Easy 4 ingredient oven-baked Lemon Hand Pies Recipe: flaky, baked hand pies with a sweet lemon filling! A dusting of powdered sugar adds a beautiful finishing touch.
If you love lemon desserts, be sure to try these soft and fluffy Lemon Ricotta Cookies. Or give our lemon cheesecake recipe a try for the ultimate treat.
Why this Recipe Works
If you love lemon tarts, think of these hand pies as the portable version! Bright lemon tang meets a buttery pie crust in this simple recipe.
- Only 4 ingredients for the ultimate easy hand pie recipe!
- Refrigerated pie crust creates perfect flaky crust. No guess work or hassle.
- Use prepared lemon pie filling or whip up a batch of Homemade Lemon Curd.
- Hand pies are so easy to transport, eat and share at any occasion.
We’re no stranger to hand pies around here. From easy blueberry hand pies, to festive cherry hand pies, we’ve got you covered with flavors and techniques!
Ingredient Notes
We love that this recipe is only three ingredients! You can make it as easy or as difficult as you like.
- Pie Crust- whether you choose homemade pie crust or refrigerated pie crust, it’s totally your call.
- Lemon Pie Filling- we love the flexibility of this recipe. Use a can of lemon pie filling or a batch of homemade lemon curd.
- Eggs- separate the egg. Use the egg yolk around the edges of the hand pie to help it stay closed. And brust the tops of the hand pie to give it a beautiful color and texture.
- Powdered Sugar- completely optional, but a delicious finish to this sweet treat.
How to make Lemon Hand Pies
- Cut pie crust. Let refrigerated pie crust come to room temperature. Unroll and cut each crust into 6 circles using a biscuit cutter. You can use our homemade pie crust if you prefer.
- Fill and shape. Drop a tablespoon of lemon pie filling (or homemade lemon curd) into the center of each crust circle.
- Close and pinch. Brush the edges of the open hand pie with egg yolk, or water. Fold each one in half and pinch the edges. Press the tines of a fork along the seam to seal.
- Bake. Brush the tops of each hand pie with beaten egg white. Bake the pies for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Tips and Tricks
- If making homemade lemon curd for these pies, reserve the whites from your egg yolks. You can use the egg whites to brush the tops of the lemon hand pies! Or use the egg whites to make meringue cookies or white cake.
- Chill the baked hand pies before serving for best taste! If you can’t wait, go ahead and enjoy right away.
- We love how easy this recipe is when using refrigerated pie crust and canned pie filling. And the flavor is magnificent. That said, feel free to use homemade ingredients if you feel the urge or need.
- For more flavors, swap out the filling for other fruits. Our peach hand pies and apple hand pies are equally delicious!
- Swap out the powdered sugar and drizzle some sweet icing on the top instead.
- Try out our lemon chess pie recipe next for a sweet custard treat!
Recipe FAQs
Using two boxes of prepared pie crust (2 crusts each) this recipe will yield about 24 small hand pies.
Getting that 6th circle can be tricky. Try gathering up the dough scraps and rolling them out again to create enough crust for the sixth circle.
And if you don’t wind up with 6 full circles, don’t worry! You’ll still have plenty of delicious lemon hand pies to enjoy.
Make sure to completely seal the edges of each hand pie before baking. I use fork tines to seal them together. You can also press with your hands and give the corners a slight twist to prevent the lemon filling from escaping. Dip your fingers in water or egg yolk and brush along the edges of each circle. This helps the pie crust seal and not leak.
Yes, you can freeze them after baking and cooling. When ready to eat, let thaw in the fridge and dust with powdered sugar.
Frozen lemon hand pies will keep well about 2 to 3 months.
More Lemon Recipes
Also, give these Apple Empanadas a whirl on a fall day!
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Lemon Hand Pies
Ingredients
- 2 boxes refrigerated pie crust 14.1 ounce each
- 1 can lemon pie filling (or homemade lemon curd) 15 ounce
- 1 egg white beaten (save the yolk to brush the pie crust edges)
- ½ cup powdered sugar optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Remove pie crusts from package and allow to come to room temperature while you prepare filling.
- Unroll pie crusts and cut 6 circles from each crust using a 4-inch biscuit cutter. You may have to re-roll the scraps to get the 6th circle.
- Using a 1 tbsp cookie scoop, drop lemon pie filling into center of each pie crust circle. Brush the edges of each circle with water or beaten egg yolk. Fold in half and pinch edges completely. Fold pinched edges over and press with the tines of a fork to seal. Poke hand pie with fork once, to prevent bursting.
- Beat egg white in a small bowl until frothy. Brush over the tops of each hand pie. Bake on a parchment paper lined baking sheet (1 inch apart) for about 15 minutes, until browned.
- Remove cooked pies from baking sheet and cool completely. Sprinkle generously with powdered sugar and enjoy. These are great refrigerated and served chilled.
Notes
- Use our recipe to make homemade lemon curd for the filling.
- Chill the baked hand pies before serving for best taste! If you can’t wait, go ahead and enjoy right away.
- Swap out the store bought crust for my Homemade Pie Crust recipe if you have some extra time on your hands!
- Store hand pies in refrigerator for up to 3 days for best flavor and texture.
- See blog post for more recipe tips and tricks.
Can I freeze the Lemon Hand Pies? If so how long?
I made them they were yummy
just made these ….OMG they are so so good thank you very much
You’re welcome 🙂
Hello, pls what did u use to cut the dough in circles? I have been looking for something circular to cut
I got my doug press at Home Goods! They come 3 diferents sizes in a box for just $3.99
I’ll definitely try my tools with this recipe 🙂
Thanks!
I signed up but can’t get this mini lemon pie dessert.
It’s shown up above the comments section 🙂
I was wondering if you can make these ahead of time and freeze them?
I haven’t tried that. It may change the texture of the pie crust…
I would like to do these for my sisters bridal shower and I was wondering if I can do it ahead of time and freeze them?
These look delightful! One question, is there a substitute for pie crust? I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it here in the UK (I’m in London).
Tiffany did you did a substitute? It’s actually easy to make a pie crust. The foodchannel.com will have recipes.
I think that’s what is used for the meat pies in GB, and maybe the crust on Beef Wellington.
Even when I am trying to be healthy, I need a treat every once in a while 🙂
Thanks for sharing! I love anything lemon. Can’t wait to make these!
What sort of pastry is used not sure we can buy this pastry in Australia? Do we use short crust or puff pastry?
It’s pie crust 🙂
Mmm, I used to love the hand pies you could buy in the store! I’m sure these would taste much better. Thanks for sharing.
I love lemon! These look amazing!
Looks delicious but it Is very aggravating when you want to see a recipe but feel like you are on a scavenger hunt looking for it!
????Agreed
Amen to that ” scavenger hunt.”
They are pretty much always at the end. Not much of a scavenger hunt if you know where to find them! Cheers!
Bring me some when they are ready. Yummy!!
No surprise that you added a lemon hand pie to the list of your awesome mini pies! Love the powdered sugar on top too!
Thank you; it brings back the memories of my grandmother: she used to make such a beauties every weekend expecting us to appear 🙂
I used to love the cheapie hostess lemon hand pies. I am sure that these are a million times better, but that they would satisfy that nostalgia too!
YES. I could eat those Cherry ones every single day!!!
I actually have one of those empanada/hand pie crust folder things. Your hand pies would be perfect for that tool! And I totally agree that homemade lemon curd can’t be beat!
What??? I must find this tool…I make a lot of hand pies!