Raisin Pastries

These raisin pastries are the kind of old-fashioned hand pies your grandmother might have called ‘turnovers’ or ‘half moons,' depending on which side of the family she came from. Three cups of raisins get ground with nuts and a touch of candied citron, then bound with honey, vanilla, cinnamon, and a few tablespoons of grape jelly into a thick, sweet, sticky filling. The whole thing wraps in flaky pie pastry, gets sealed and slashed, and bakes hot until deeply golden.

Grinding (rather than chopping) the raisins is the move that earns these their character. Ground raisins form a paste that holds together inside the pastry without leaking, while chopped raisins shift around and create air pockets that collapse during baking. A food processor handles this in seconds, but a meat grinder works the way the original recipe intended.

The high oven temperature (450°F / 230°C) is unusual for hand pies but right here. The shortening-based pastry needs that blast of heat to puff and flake before the filling has time to bubble out through the slits. The egg wash on top gives the deep mahogany shine these pastries are known for.

Pro Tips

• Cut the shortening into the flour until it looks like coarse cornmeal. Bigger lumps mean a flakier crust.
• Rest the dough at least 30 minutes covered before rolling. Cold relaxed dough rolls without springing back.
• Don’t overfill. One tablespoon of filling per circle is the sweet spot. More leaks during baking.
• Cool fully on a rack before stacking. The bottoms steam soft if stacked warm.

Variations

• Swap raisins for dates or chopped figs for a different fruit base.
• Add the zest of one orange to the filling for a bright citrus note.
• Drizzle cooled pastries with a thin powdered-sugar glaze for a bakery-style finish.
• Use chopped walnuts or pecans for the nuts as preference dictates.