Name: Pasty Dough
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h 50 min
Yield: 10
Ingredients: 750 grams OR 6 cups of Bread Flour with 1 Tablespoon taken out; 2 tsp salt; 235 grams OR 1 cup + 1/2 Tablespoon cold butter; 245 ml cold water; 2 egg yolks, not used together; 5-7 cups filling, see notes

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Looking for a pasty dough recipe that doesn’t fall apart the moment you bite into it? THIS IS IT. Plus if you’re looking for a NO LARD pasty dough recipe, this is also it!

This Pasty Dough Recipe does it all. It tastes great, stays together, doesn’t crumble in your hand, AND makes 10 hand pies.

And YES you can actually hold this in your hand, take a bite, and not have it fall apart. So if you’re looking to make and bake great savory hand pies use this dough!

This bake reminds me of the Bedfordshire Clangers we made about two years ago for the Great British Baking Show. If you LOVE the GBBO JOIN US!!

cooked pasty dough rolls on a cutting board

I think you can use this dough for sweet hand pies too, but it may be a little too sturdy for the job. Something more like these Jam Hand Pies might just be the thing you’re looking for.

Best of All? No Soggy Bottom!

This dough held it together in every test I gave it. Three different fillings, three different bakes. Crispy bottom on every bake!

Pasties For Pastry Week

Last week on the GBBO (2020 season) It was Pastry Week. The bakes were:

Signature Bake: Savory Pasties Any flavor, any style, but it must have crimped edges
Technical Bake:6 Eclairs, 3 Salted Caramel and 3 Raspberry
Showstopper bake:A Caged Tart–a sweet tart with an edible pastry cage over it

We chose the Savory Pasty for our Bake-Along Challenge because it seemed like a fun one to do. Especially after two weeks of Technical Bakes, the Chocolate Babka, and the Rainbow Bagels. We thought giving the bakers a chance to choose their own adventure might be a nice change-up.

Facts About Pasties

ONLY pasties MADE IN Cornwall can be a Cornish Pasty everything else is just a Pasty

They originated as a lunch food for miners so they could have a big filling meal that was completely self contained

The crimped edge was often made big enough for miners to hold while they ate, and then thrown away because it was dirty from their hands
They should have 21-22 crimps per pasty!

Easy Filling For Hand Pies

You’ll notice that I don’t give an explicit recipe for a filling that’s because I believe you should make a filling from ingredients you like or have in your home already.

Start by browning a pound of meat, chop and add an onion or leek, add a few peeled potatoes or chopped carrots. Cook all this over medium heat in a frying pan. Drain if needed, you don’t want a bone dry filling but you don’t want it to squirt hot grease all over people either.

You want the meat cooked through and the veggies on the edge of tender. Add any seasonings you like, keep it simple with salt, pepper, and garlic. OR add things like curry powder, or smoked paprika, or any spices you like.

You’re shooting for 6-7 cups of filling, EACH of these pasties will hold about 1/2 or 2/3 of a cup of filling. You may end up with some filling leftover, better to have too much than to scrimp on filling pasties.

If you make bigger or smaller sizes you could end up using more or less.

How to Use this Pasty Dough Recipe for Hand Pies

Make the Pasty Dough and Chill it
make about filling, and cool it
preheat the oven to 445˚
divide the chilled dough into 10 pieces
roll each ball into an 7-8 inch circle
put a heaping 1/2 cup or so of filling in the middle of each circle
fold one side up and over the filling, seal it shut
crimp the edges, I’ve embedded a little video of the crimping process
bake at 445˚ for 20 minutes
reduce heat to 345˚ bake 15-20 more minutes

Let’s Make Pie!

You all know I don’t like pie right? And yet my family LOVES IT. SO I make pies for them. And you guys of course!

Pecan Pie No Corn Syrup

Crumb Topped Dutch Apple Pie

Apple Hand Pies

Yield: 10 Pasties

Pasty Dough

Looking for a pasty dough recipe that doesn't fall apart the moment you bite into it? THIS IS IT. This Pasty Dough Recipe does it all. It tastes great, stays together, doesn't crumble in your hand, AND makes 10 hand pies.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Additional Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes

Ingredients

750 grams OR 6 cups of Bread Flour with 1 Tablespoon taken out
2 tsp salt
235 grams OR 1 cup + 1/2 Tablespoon cold butter
245 ml cold water
2 egg yolks, not used together
5-7 cups filling, see notes

Instructions

put the flour and salt in a mixing bowl
cut the cold butter into tiny pieces and work it into the flour, when it resembles crumbs it's ready for the water--see notes for food processor instructions
mix the water and one egg yolk together
pour into the flour and mix until it comes together
turn it out on a clean counter and knead lightly until it comes together into a dough
wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes
when you're ready to bake preheat the oven to 445˚
line two baking sheets with parchment
weigh the dough if you have a scale and divide into 10 equal pieces of dough
roll each piece of dough into a 7-8 inch circle
add a heaping half cup of filling
lay the circle over on itself
press together
starting at one end press your thumb down on the seam while pulling it out with the other hand into a little point and then fold it over
repeat all the way around the seam making crimps as you go
crimping may feel awkward but once you get it it's fairly easy
place five pastes on each prepare sheet
make an egg wash with the remaining egg yolk and mix it with a Tablespoon of water
brush each pasty with an egg wash
bake for 20 minutes at 445˚ then reduce the heat to 345˚ and bake for another 15-20 minutes until crispy and browned underneath
cool a bit before eating

Notes

You CAN pulse the butter and flour in a food processor to cut the butter in, then add the water and egg and just pulse until a dough forms, THEN pull it out and knead it lightly
Filling for a pasty can be almost anything, started with ground meat ad brown with whatever veggies you have on hand

Season with salt, pepper, garlic and anything else that tastes good to you
often times they have potatoes in them
you don't need everything cooked through, just mostly cooked

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