Boo berry pies (blueberry hand pies)

Flakey short crust pastry filled with homemade blueberry jam shaped into little ghosts for the perfect halloween sweet treat. A delicious make ahead dessert that is fun and simple.

October means we have to start thinking Halloween and that implies Halloween inspired food. I kickstart my Halloween recipes with these blueberry pies or blueberry pies which is basically short crust pastry and blueberry jam, I have used home-made shortcrust pastry and home-made blueberry jam but you could use store bought. You don’t need blueberry but I love blueberry jam, any red jam works well too.

What makes these pies spooky Halloween themed is, we cut them into these little ghost shape pies, I don’t have a ghost cookie cutter so I used a stencil on butter paper, I just basically sketched out the outline of a ghost and I use that as a template to cut my dough. They turned out so perfect and absolutely delicious so let’s get to it.

What are boo berry pies?

Boo berry pies are basically blueberry pies that have blueberry jam in the centre of two rolled out shortcrust pastry cut outs. As Halloween is approaching I used a ghost stencil to cut these pies you could use any cookie cutter or just make them square or round and it’s absolutely fine but if you want to make them spooky and Halloween themed then this is a great way to do that. These are similar to hand pies which are basically pies you can eat on the go, they are not very messy but they still have a good amount of filling the pastry is still flaky and the dough is absolutely battery and delicious.

What ingredients do you need to make these boo berry pies?

Short crust pastry –

I have used my homemade short crust pastry recipe to make these pies but you can use store bought short crust pastry to make it. Also if you would like to use puff pastry you could absolutely do that as well. I prefer short crust here to mimic a hand pie texture. Homemade short crust pastry only needs butter, flour, salt and chilled water so you don’t have an excuse to make it. Also my recipe teaches you how to make it in a food processor and by hand.

Blueberry jam –

This is the easiest blueberry jam/compote you will make that is perfect for pies, to spoon over ice cream or slather over toast. I prefer using frozen blueberries to make the jam, I think they add more moisture and make for a really rich and saucy jam texture. If you are making this recipe as a jam then make sure to store it in a clean glass jar in the fridge. To make the jam we need blueberries, lemon juice, water, cornstarch and a little maple syrup. If you are using store bought jam you can use any jam you prefer blueberries blackberries mixed berries strawberries it doesn’t matter just make sure you are using jam or preserves don’t use jelly because Jenny is mainly only liquid come component of the fruit and we want some of the chunky fruit pieces in the pies.

Egg wash –

Like more pies we need to egg wash the sides of the dough to seal it shut and you could egg wash the top for a golden color but I wanted these pies to cool pale and “ghostly” so I didn’t egg wash them on the top. If you don’t want to egg wash them as you would prefer to keep them eggless, you can su heavy cream or water.

What equipment do you need to make these boo berry pies?

To roll out the dough we need a rolling pin and parchment paper. I prefer rolling my dough between two sheets of baking paper as this ensures I don’t add extra flour onto the surface while rolling it out, I used parchment paper to create the stencil of the ghost which I found on Google and I just rest it on my phone and I followed that on the dough to cut it out. To cut the dough I used a sharp paring knife, you can use any small sharp knife that is easy to handle and an offset spatula helps with transferring the cut out dough to your baking tray these pies are baked in an oven, lined with baking paper too. To make blueberry jam we need a sauce pot, wooden spoon and a lid. I ideally would prefer to use a sauté pan however that does dry the jam faster while a sauce pot allows it to have some moisture which is why I would recommend using a sauce pot here. To make the ghosts mouth and eyes I have used a piping nozzle to make the cut out.

How to make these boo berry pies?

To make these blueberry hand pies we need to start by making a shortcrust pastry and I have used my home-made shortcrust pastry recipe you can follow that one I’ve linked it here. Once it is made, set that aside place it in the fridge and we get on with the jam. To make the blueberry jam we start by adding the blueberries, lemon juice, maple syrup in a sauce pot and place it on medium heat. You want the blueberries to start bubbling and blistering slowly once you start hearing a sizzling sound put a lid on the sauce pot and cook it for five minutes until it starts simmering and a lot of juices from the blueberries have been released, you want to smash some of the blueberries with the back of a spoon and now you want to add your corn slurry which is basically corn flour and water that’s been mixed together. Once the corn flour goes into the jam make sure to stir it as it will start to thicken quickly, as you start to see bubbles forming to the top and the mixture has gotten thick, take it off the heat and let it cool down completely before we use it.

Preheat the oven to 180℃ and line a baking tray with parchment paper. We start by rolling out the dough between two sheets of baking paper it is always important to roll out the dough fridge cold or else it will start oozing butter while rolling. We want to roll the dough fairly thin 1/8th of an inch is the thinnest I would recommend for you to go once the dough is rolled out, use your ghost cookie cutter or ghost template that you have traced from your phone, using a sharp knife to cut out the shape of a ghost on your dough keep going until your entire dough has been cut out transfer each cut out piece of dough to the lined baking tray. They will not spread however they will rise so you might want to keep a little space between them as they bake.

Depending on the size of the pie you will need to eye ball the amount of jam needed, I used a tablespoon of the jam in each pie and had a little jam leftover over which I wasn’t complaining about. Brushed the edges of each pie with beaten egg and roll out all the remaining dough its mentioned above and cut out the ghost shape again. Transfer each cut out to the filled pie and seal it shut using fork around the edges. Using one small round cutter fr the ghosts mouth cut out circles in each pie and using a small nozzle cut out the eyes. Use can use any round cutter to make the mouth and eyes. Bake for 15-18 mins until the pies are baked through, the pastry is dry to touch and flakey. Do not over bake them as they will dry out the jam.

Serving and storing these boo berry pies?

The pies are best served warm with a coffee or milk. You can use a little glaze made of icing sugar and milk to give them that white “ghostly” look. I don’t think they need it though, they are perfect on their own. That being said it is delicious cold as well. Once they are baked, place them in an air tight container and they store well at room temperature.

Make ahead options:

You can make the dough ahead time and freeze it in a zip lock bag for up to 3 months. When ready to use, let it thaw and roll out as suggested. You can also store the jam in the fridge for 1 week or in the freezer for 1 month. When ready too use let it thaw and spread over the dough as needed. Alternatively, you can shape and assemble the pies ahead of time, place them on a baking tray, cover with cling wrap and store in the freezer for 2 weeks. When ready to make, let them come to room temperature and bake them fridge cold. This is a delicious make ahead recipe that you can bake up in any shape you like.

Looking for more Halloween inspired recipes for movie night?

Now that we have covered how to make this Boo Berry Pie (Blueberry hand pies), you can have a look at the recipe video on my socials but let’s get to it.

If you try this recipe out, don’t forget to share it with me on instagram so I can see how it turned out. I’d love nothing more than to chat with you on your cooking/baking.