Cherry Hand Pies

Pit the fresh cherries and cut in half. Add an egg yolk with two tablespoons of water into a small bowl and whisk together with a fork.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and defrost the puff pastry.

Roll the puff pastry out on a lightly floured surface until it is about 1/8" thick or slightly thinner. Cut the pastry into 6 even rectangles (approximately 6"x4").

Cut 3 slits into the pastry rectangles without cherry jam.

Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of cherry jam on to the center of three of the rectangles. 

Spread the cherry jam out slightly leaving at least a 1/2" border of pastry without jam.

Place 8 cherry halves onto the jam on the pastry.

Use a pastry brush to brush the edges of the rectangles of pastry with cherry filling with the egg wash.

Lay one rectangle of pastry with slits over the top of another rectangle with cherry filling and press the edges together. Repeat with the remaining rectangles.

Place the assembled pies on the lined baking sheet and use the tines of a fork to press the edges of each pie together.

Brush the top of each pie with the remaining egg wash and then sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of turbinado sugar.

Bake the assembled hand pies in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, after 10 minutes, rotate the pan 180º and bake for another 10-12 minutes until golden brown.

Once baked, take the baking sheet out of the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for a few minutes.