CHOCOLATE HAND PIES RECIPES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Add the flour, shortening and a pinch of salt to a food processor and run the motor until the dough starts to clump together. With the motor running, drizzle in the water. Stop the motor when a ball begins to form. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for about 1 hour. This step allows the glutens to relax and makes for easier rolling. 
• Mix together the beef, rutabaga, carrots, onions, potatoes and parsley. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside until ready to form the pies. 
• Cut the dough into 6 even pieces, about 5 ounces each, and form into balls. Make sure the dough is cold for easier handling. Flour a work surface and roll out each ball of dough into an 8-inch circle. Evenly divide the filling (about 3/4 cup per pastie) on one half of each dough circle. Fold the dough over to cover the mixture and crimp the edges using a fork. Slice 3 small slits on top of each pocket. This prevents steam from building up and splitting the dough. Brush the pasties with the egg and bake on the prepared baking sheet until the crust is golden brown and flaky, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Serve with ketchup.

Steps:

• Combine sugar and butter and mix until well blended.
• Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and mix well.
• Combine and whisk the flour, cocoa, and salt until mixed. Then add to the butter mixture.
• Add buttermilk and vanilla to the mixture. Stir until well mixed.
• Pour into pie shells and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Or, as oven temperatures vary, bake as long as it takes for the pie to be firm and not jiggle in the middle.
• Cool completely before cutting. Store leftover pie in the refrigerator.
• Note: I used an electric mixer though this recipe can easily be mixed by hand. Adapted from Karen’s Buttermilk Pie My older sister Karen always made the Buttermilk Pie for our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, and though I’m not sure where she got her recipe, I am sure that it was the best Buttermilk Pie that anyone in our family ever made. Yes, even better than mine. My beloved sister passed away in 1999 a few days after Christmas. The following year I decided to make her Buttermilk Pie in honor of her. I contacted family members and began a search for her recipe. To my dismay no one had it. My mother said my sister had written down the recipe for her, however, after searching she could not find it either. Each year I make a buttermilk pie from recipes I have found in books and online and none of them tasted the same. I am happy to say that while looking through old recipes of my mother’s, after 13 years, I found my sister’s handwritten recipe in time to bake it for Thanksgiving and my family got to enjoy a piece of Karen’s Buttermilk Pie as we reminisced about her and holidays past.