These Strawberry Basil Hand Pies with a Hazelnut Crust are delightful morsels of heaven with a subtle sweetness! There’s just a hint of basil giving the strawberries a nice boost of flavor. The crust is buttery and flaky highlighting the crunch of the ground hazelnuts!
I have a funny story to tell about an experience I had during my inner child work. I was meditating about not being able to speak up for myself as a child. Normally, I envision my inner child taking action but this time it happened without my direction and I saw a scene play out all on its own. I was shocked and thrilled. I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing at first but I felt so much better after.
My little self was on a playground at school. It was my first day and I was painfully shy. A girl walked over and asked if I wanted to sit with her and her friends. We went and joined them. One of the girls was dismissive and acted like I wasn’t there. She reached into her bag, pulled out a large plastic horse and handed it to one of the girls. She did the same to all of the other girls except me.
It wasn’t that I wanted a horse or even expected one. I just met them. But, the girl was so snotty and it really hurt my little self’s feelings. I jumped up and grabbed a horse from one of the girl’s hands and threw it at the snotty girl. I grabbed the others and did the same. I then lunged at her and beat her up. My adult self laughed out loud. I was a little taken aback. I would never do that in real life but I’m glad she did because it was a huge release.
This led me to other memories with similar scenarios. We tend to have repeated scenarios play out in different ways until we learn from them and change how we perceive things. I’m looking forward to what else takes place in my inner child journey.
Strawberry Basil Hand Pies with a Hazelnut Crust - CaliZona
Ingredients
Filing - double this recipe if you want to add some on top
- 3 Cup Diced Strawberries
- 2 Tablespoon Minced Basil
- 3 Tablespoon Coconut Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Arrowroot powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt
Crust
- 2 Tablespoons Ground Chia Seeds
- 5 Tablespoons Filtered Water
- 3 Tablespoons Coconut Sugar
- 1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt
- 1 Cup Salted Butter
- 1 Tablespoon Hazelnut Extract
- 1 1/2 Cup Ground Toasted Hazelnuts - recipe below
- 1 1/2 Cups Oat Flour
- 1/2 Cup White Rice Flour
- 1/2 Cup Millet Flour
- 1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon
Instructions
Filling
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Dice the strawberries into small pieces, mince the basil, measure the sugar and arrowroot then mix together well and set aside.
Hazelnuts
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Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
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Spread the hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet.
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Bake for 10 – 14 minutes. In about 5 – 7 minutes stir the nuts so they toast evenly while also checking on the progress.
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When the hazelnuts are cool, put them in the center of a towel and pull the corners of the towel together and roll the hazelnuts around with some force until the skins come loose.
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A small amount of skin will remain on the nuts and that is fine.
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In a food processor, grind hazelnuts into a fine crumble and set aside.
Dough
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In a small bowl, add the water and quickly whisk in the ground chia seeds until it becomes gelatinous and then add to the bowl of a food processor.
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Add the sugar and extract then blend together.
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Add the ground hazelnuts and pulse until incorporated.
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Then add the flour and salt. Pulse several times to combine.
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Add the butter in small pieces and pulse until incorporated. It will resemble a coarse meal. Do not over process.
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Form the dough into two flat discs and wrap them in parchment paper. Place in the fridge for at least a half-hour.
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Remove the dough from the refrigerator and sprinkle the cutting board with oat flour and place the dough on top of the flour, then sprinkle more flour on top of the dough.
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Roll out one of the disks of dough to about 1/4 inch thick.
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Sprinkle with a little more white rice flour on top to avoid sticking to the rolling pin.
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Pinch together any cracks on the edges.
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With a 3-inch circle cookie cutter cut out the circles and place 12 onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
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Roll out the second ball of dough and cut out the 12 top circles.
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Roll the other 12 ever so slightly with the rolling pin so they will fit over the filling. If any cracks happen, pinch together the best you can.
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With a pastry brush or your fingers spread a little water on the edge of one and fill with about 2 tablespoons of the filling then cover and press together with a fork to seal the edges.
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Cut decorative holes on top with a knife to let the steam escape.
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Bake for 30 – 45 minutes or until golden.
