Sweet Potato Hand Pies

Andrea packing the hand pies

I have a fridge full of pie crusts and I am happy to report that my family and I ate and loved all the recipe-testing pies! On Monday, We made Sweet Potato Hand Pies with Kitchen Sanctuary friends for the Missing Link A.M.E. Zion Church Thanksgiving Day Community Dinner. Thank you also to the friends who could not be there and are donating delicious treats– Phyllis Capparelli, Lia Farrington and Dawn Graham.
Pastor Willie and volunteers will deliver hundreds of meals on Thursday and serve hundreds more from noon to 3pm at the church located at 101st Street & 5th Avenue in North Central Troy. See flyer bellow for how to volunteer.
making hand pies with Eleanor Goldsmith

From left: Branda Miller, Pastor Willie, Ellie Markovitch and Andrea

Here how we made them!

1) Bake sweet potatoes: wash the sweet potatoes, no need to dry, place them in the crock pot on low for 8 hours

2) Peel the sweet potatoes. Use a mixer, I used a food meal to “mash” them and catch and remove excess strings.

3) Measure for the Filling, clockwise:

You will need:
2 cups cooked, mashed, sweet potatoes
1 large egg, light beaten
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon Balsamic syrup (balsamic vinegar reduction)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 vanilla bean
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1 inch of ginger, finely chopped
1/3 cup of sugar

4) Mix all spices with coconut milk and simmer for a couple of minutes

5) Strain and add to the other ingredients. Add egg last.

6) Mix by hand or with a mixer

7) Open pie crust, made with 2 cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 11 tablespoons of butter, 4 tablespoons of water and 3 tablespoons of vinegar

8) Open half of the crust into about a 14×10 inches and cut into 8 hand pies or 16 mini hand pies. Add filling to each rectangle. Open the leftover crust, repeat the process, add to seal each hand pie. Bake at 375F for 25 minutes.