Flaky Cream Cheese Dough – Hand Pie Dough
This cream cheese pastry dough is tender and flaky, yet sturdy enough to roll, cut, and shape without cracking. It’s my go-to hand pie dough, and a forgiving cream cheese pie dough for full-size pies too. Cream cheese and butter give it rich flavor and golden browning. Plan on about 20 minutes of active time, then at least 2 hours to chill.
Table of contents
Why I Created This Recipe
I believe that a really great pie is impossible without a really great crust. Of course, once you master a classic buttery Pie Crust you could use it for every pie you make.
Me? I like to choose a specific crust for the type of pie I’m baking. That tender and flaky classic crust is exactly what I want for Glazed Maple Apple Pie.
If I’m making a savory galette or pasties I like to use a Rye Pie Crust or Whole Wheat Pie Crust.
I developed this cream cheese dough specifically as my go-to for making hand pies, but it’s versatile and works well for any type of pie.
Use Cream Cheese Pie Dough for Full Size Pies
Much as I love my tender and flaky pie crust, if you are at all nervous about working with pie dough this would be a great option for you to try.
This cream cheese dough is less brittle than an all-butter crust. Because it’s made with all purpose flour, it is sturdy without being tough. It’s easier to roll without cracking and crumbling.
Go ahead and use this dough for a single crust custard pie or a fruit filled, two-crust pie.
This dough works well in a savory tart. Because it’s not very brittle, it can snug nicely into a fluted tart pan.
Use Cream Cheese Dough for Making Hand Pies
Hand pies are exactly what they sound like. They are compact pies made as individual servings. Just stack them up on a tray and everyone can help themselves. No need for cutting and serving. Even better, there are no plates or forks to wash.
Why is cream cheese dough perfect for hand pies? Because this recipe makes a crust that is not too tender or too flaky.
Yes, Yes, tender and flaky is generally what we want in a pie dough. But hand pies are, you know, “handled” a bit more.
A super tender crust might crumble apart as you pick up and eat a hand pie. A super flaky crust can be a bit brittle and break apart when rolling. This can be a problem when you need to roll, cut and shape individual pies.
Ingredients
- All Purpose Flour – Use bleached or unbleached all purpose flour. Compared to my classic Pie Crust recipe, which uses a combination of all purpose and cake flour, this dough uses only medium protein all purpose flour. It has a sturdy structure that can stand up to the rolling, cutting and shaping required for hand pies.
- Butter – I use unsalted butter in all my baking. If you use salted butter you may want to reduce the salt in the recipe. Different brands of butter will have different salt levels so you’ll have to adjust according to the brand you use.
- Cream Cheese – Use regular, full fat cream cheese. Avoid low-fat or “neufchatel” cream cheese as they can be grainy and watery and will throw off the texture.
Why Cream Cheese?
Cream cheese adds flavor from the milk solids and it has protein so the crust will brown better.
Best of all, because cream cheese is less brittle than butter, the dough easily rolls without cracking.
Process Photos
Here’s what the recipe process looks like at each stage. Refer to the recipe card below for measurements and exact instructions.
To Mix the Dough by Hand
- Cut the cream cheese into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles cornmeal.
- Toss in the cubed butter.
- Use your fingers to flatten the cubes of butter into thin flakes.
- Add the water all at once and toss to combine.
- Grab the loose mixture by hand and form it into a cohesive dough.
- Flatten the dough to about 1″ thick and fold it 2x.
- Form the dough into a disc and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before rolling.
To Mix in a Food Processor
- Pulse the dry ingredients a few times to combine. Add the cream cheese and process until the mixture looks like a rough powder.
- Add the butter and process until the butter is distributed but not completely broken down. There should be small lumps of butter visible.
- Add the water and pulse until the dough begins to clump. It will still look powdery at this point.
- Turn the shaggy dough out onto a surface and use your hand to form it into a cohesive mass.
- Pat the dough to 1″ thick and fold it 2x to form layers.
- Form it into a disc and chill at least 2 hours before rolling the dough.
Tips for Rolling and Cutting Hand Pies
- Roll the dough to 1/4″ thick for any type of hand pie.
- Once filled, hand pies can be fried or baked. Follow the directions in your recipe.
- For half-moon shaped pies: cut the dough into rounds and fold the dough over the filling to form the half-moon shape.
- For pop-tart style pies: Cut the dough into rectangles. Sandwich the filling between two dough rectangles, brushing egg wash on the bottom layer to glue the two sides together. Use a fork to crimp the edges and poke a few vent holes to let steam escape.
- For little round pies: Cut small rounds and sandwich the filling between two rounds. Egg wash the edges of the bottom round and use your fingers or a fork to crimp the edges.
- For Fruit Dumplings: Cut the dough into squares. Set the fruit in the center of a square and wrap the dough around it.
If you love this recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a star rating and a quick comment. Ratings and comments help my recipes show in search results. Thanks!
Flaky Cream Cheese Dough
Ingredients
- 13 ¾ oz all purpose flour (2 ¾ cups, see note)
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 4 oz cream cheese (cut into 1" chunks)
- 4 oz unsalted butter (cold and cut into ¼" cubes)
- 4 oz cold water (½ cup)
Instructions
- Whisk together 13 ¾ oz all purpose flour, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon table salt in a mixing bowl or the bowl of a food processor.
- Toss in 4 oz cream cheese. Using your fingers, mix the cream cheese into the flour until it resembles coarse corn meal. If using a food processor pulse until the cream cheese is incorporated into the flour and looks like a rough powder.
- Toss 4 oz unsalted butter into the flour and use your fingers to flatten the cubes to large, thin flake. Allow the flakes to break up into slightly smaller pieces. Work quickly so the butter doesn't get warm. Don't break the butter down completely. There should be some large flakes remaining. If using a food processor, pulse the mixture until the butter is mostly broken down but some small lumps remain.
- Pour 4 oz cold water onto the flour all at once and toss to combine. Gently work the dough just until it comes together. If using a food processor, pulse until the dough comes together in large clumps. Finish combining the dough by hand.
- Flatten the dough to about 1/2" thick then fold in half and fold it again. Compact the dough to form a cohesive disc or rectangle shape. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before rolling.
- The dough can be refrigerated for 2 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
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Hi do you usually laminate this before using or just flatten and use as is?
I usually just use as is, especially if I’m making hand pies. But you could do a fold or two if you want extra flaky.
Can I use my food processor for this dough?
Yes. But first pulse in the cream cheese until partially lumpy. Add the butter and pulse until lumpy. Then pulse in the water or add it by hand.
As the dough was resting in the fridge, life interrupted and I didn’t get back to it for a week. I thought for sure the dough would be wrecked. I made the hand pies anyway. They turned out beautifully!
That’s good to know that it can last a week in the fridge. Thanks Julie!
Can this dough be dyed with food dye?
That should not be a problem. Especially if you use “gel” coloring that doesn’t add a lot of moisture.
Where have you worked as a pastry chef?
I worked at a hotel, restaurant, in wholesale and retail bakeries. Before I started blogging full time I had a custom cake business for 10 years.
Where’s the end of the recipe?
It’s a recipe for Cream Cheese Dough. The end of the recipe is the part when the dough is made. What you do with the dough can vary. Use it to make hand pies or use it to make a full pie. Use it to make cookies, etc.
You left out oven temp and the length of baking!
The temp and baking time would depend on the recipe you use for the dough. If you’re making hand pies it will be different than if you make a two crust pie, for example. You can also use this dough for fried hand pies, so that would also be different.
How would this dough hold up for a braided pastry?
Depends what you have in mind. This texture of this dough is more of a cookie/pie dough than pastry dough. What do you want to make with it?
Kringle
I haven’t made Kringle myself, but reading through some recipes it looks like it can be made with two types of dough. One type of dough used is made with sour cream that looks similar to this recipe. So I’m guessing if you’re using a recipe like that this dough would work. I also saw some recipes that use Danish dough. My Danish dough recipe is fairly simple if you want to use a yeasted dough.
Thank you
Very easy to follow. Simple recipe that needs ingredients I already have.
Hi Ellen, your help is greatly appreciated here. I tired to make this dough but it was an epic failure for me. I couldn’t ever get it to come together. It was so crumbly I couldn’t pick it up once wrapped in plastic wrap. What the heck. So frustrated.
Hi Jan, it’s hard to say without seeing and knowing what happened. Did you make any ingredient substitutions? I will say, this dough can be kind of “shaggy” when it’s first mixed. That is, some drier spots and some stickier spots. The texture will even out during the chilling time.
Hi Ellen I made the recipe as written. I did make it again and while very shaggy I got it wrapped and in the fridge. I’m hopeful it will roll out as planned. Thank you for your response.
Great recipe for dough!! Thank you
Could I make this in a stand mixer as long as I didn’t beat it too much?
Yes! Just be sure to stop the mixer before the water is completely mixed in. Finish it by hand.
What temp do you bake these and for how long?
That would depend on how you’re using the dough, what the filling is, etc. Generally I would bake at 350 for approximately 20 minutes. Again, the time will depend on the filling.
Dough not as soft or flaky as imexpested
Do you have a question?
@Eileen Gray, Doesn’t it say “write a comment”. Not sure that that means “ask a question”
I honestly wasn’t trying to be rude. My point was that I could try to help if there was a problem with the recipe. I can’t control someone’s expectation of what the recipe might be, but if they explain the result they got I can try to troubleshoot or explain how the recipe should work to adjust the expectation.
The dough worked out well for my apple pie fry hand pies. Will keep as a favorite!
Wonderful!
I really enjoy savory hand-pies (empanadas, pasties, etc.). And as with dessert hand-pies, getting the crust right is really important to the success of the recipe. Have you tried this crust recipe with savory fillings? I don’t want a sweet crust. In other recipes, I’ve added ground cumin, coriander, tumeric or other spices to the crust for color & “warmth”. What are your thoughts?
Hi Jenny, There is only a tablespoon of sugar in this dough so it’s definitely not sweet. The sugar is mostly there for tenderizing. I think you could add spices to the dough and it would work fine. You could eliminate or reduce the sugar and it would still come out great.
@Eileen Gray,
Thank you! Will give this recipe a try.
J
Made the dough , great recipe. I made pecan , lemon , strawberry rhubarb, and blueberry fry pies. I brushed them with egg wash and sprinkled with sugar crystals and baked at 400 for 15 min. They turned out great . I will be making many. Thanks for the recipe.
Interesting! I use a similar method, cream cheese and butter first and then I add a little flour at a time til it’s not sticky basically, but I’ll try it in this order next time with the added water. I think my usual recepies I’ve used is 2 cups of butter to one and a half cups cream cheese. I’ll try this next time though, be interesting to compare!
So for example, if I’m making a apple pie…I use this recipe for the dough…but get my oven temp & cook time from my apple pie recipe I’m following correct? Or no lol
Yes!
You did not mention the oven temp or how long to bake it!
That will depend on the recipe you are using. This recipe is for the dough, but how you fill the dough and what the filling is, etc will determine the cooking. For example, I use this dough for Blueberry Hand Pies and for Fried Peach hand pies.
Excellent, I made apple and cherry hand pies and this crust was fantastic.
Hi!…would this pastry be OK for a tart mold…I want to make some strawberry Tarts..and it has to stand up to being blind baked!
Yes, you can use this dough for a molded tart. It can be blind-baked. Since it’s a fairly soft dough I would line the pan with foil or parchment and fill with beans or pie weights or sugar so the dough doesn’t collapse before it sets. For strawberry tarts a better dough might be my Short Dough. It’s the best for fruit tarts.
@Eileen Gray,
Thank you!….I will try the ‘Short dough’ it sounds delicious!
I don’t understand why you didn’t include oven temp and amount of baking time. I’m supposed to guess? Yet you asked for 5 stars.
Because the time and temperature will depend on what you’re making with the dough. The time will be very different if you make hand pies versus a deep dish apple pie.
@Andy, This recipe is for pastry only…if you decide to use it…your final recipe will give you temperature and times!
Wonderful! Just like my mom used to make. Thank you! I love all sorts of pies, especially hand pies.
Hello, can this dough be used to make fry pies?
yes!
How many days can the dough be refrigerated before making the cookies?
2-3 days. For longer storage you can freeze the dough.
Is this something I could make using gluten free flour. My poor girl gets crazy eczema when she has gluten!
I don’t have a great deal of experience using gluten free flour. I have tested it for my Pound Cake Recipe and have used it for Vanilla Butter Cake in the past with OK results.
@Eileen Gray, cup 4 cup brand gluten free flour should work for this recipe.
@Eileen Gray,King Arthur is the best gluten-free cup-for-cup I have used. Their test kitchen experimented for a long time to develop it. The process they went thru is documented on their website.
Can you leave out the sugar and use the dough for savory pies?
If you want to leave out the sugar, you can. But the small amount of sugar in the dough doesn’t make it particularly sweet. The sugar tenderizes the dough and helps with browning.
Hello this recipe looks really good. The only thing is it does not show what temperature for oven and how long. Going to try this tomorrow. The recipe is called Flaky cream cheese dough. Thank you.
The oven temp and time will be dependent on what the filling is. When I use this dough to make Blueberry Hand Pies I baked them at 400F for about 12-15 minutes.
I can’t wait to try it..The pies look great..
I give it 5 stars
Since the early 1960s I have enjoyed this recipe. The possibilities are endless. Pecan tarts, various fruit pies, anything you can imagine works with this dough.
5 stars
Easy to follow
Thanks!
We did your Flaky Cream Cheese Dough for blueberry& peach hand pies.The pies we’re prefect. Thank you
I rate it 5 stars
How do u know when dough is ready to take out of the oven. Should it be browned?
Did you use the dough to make hand pies? It depends on the filling. If the dough is browned it should be ready, but make sure the filling is baked too.