Recipe: Strawberry Staked Heart Hand Pies

A long, long time ago, in a house in suburban Houston, a sixth grade girl, flipping through channels, stumbled upon the pilot of a tv show.  "Hey, this looks like that weird Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie I saw once.  They made a tv show based on that movie?  Hey, this is really cool and funny!"  And, thus, a television obsession was born.

Sarah Michelle Gellar introducing her Foodstirs baking kits

Now, nearly 20 years later (yikes), as I spend my work days selling gore and fake body parts and my free time baking brain cakes and wookiee cookies, you can only imagine how stoked I was when I learned that Buffy herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar, would be at Los Angeles' annual Cookie Convention last weekend, an event that I just happened to already have tickets to.  I guess all the cool ladies like to bake these days.

So, of course, I was inspired to make something for Buffy.  And with Valentine's Day just around the corner, I suppose hearts were on my mind.  So whether you're unattached and want to make something a little special for yourself, or you have a honey with a slightly morbid sense of humor, these hand pies should fit the bill.

Strawberry Staked Heart Hand Pies

Makes 6-8 hand pies

Pretzel Rods

1 Cup Milk Chocolate Chips

Pie Crust (I used America's Test Kitchen's Fool Proof Pie Crust)

6-7 Strawberries

2 Tablespoons Strawberry Jam

1 Egg for egg wash

Sugar in the Raw

Melt the chocolate chips in 15 second increments in the microwave, stirring each time, until just melted (be careful not to burn the chocolate).

Break the pretzel rods into 2" sections.  Coat each piece in the melted chocolate and set on wax paper.  Use a fork to create a "wood" effect and let dry.

Hull and chop the strawberries into tiny pieces, then mix with the strawberry jam in a bowl and set aside.

Fun at LA Cookie Con!

Preheat the oven to 375°F.  Roll out your pie crust and cut using a heart shaped cookie cutter.  Lay down your first layer of heart crusts on an un-greased cookie sheet.  Spoon about a tablespoon of the strawberry mixture in the center of each heart.  Top with a second pie crust layer.  Use a fork to crimp the edges together.

Mix the egg with a tablespoon of water to create an egg wash.  Brush onto each pie and sprinkle with the sugar.  Pierce the top crust where your stake will go in.  Roll up a small bit of foil and insert into the hole to keep it open.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.  Allow to cool completely before inserting the chocolate pretzel stake.