With school starting for us in the next couple of weeks, I’ve been coming up with a plan to set my kids up for success. Making sure I have some great after school snack recipes chalked full of brain fuel, planning a homework space, and making sure there is still time for play.
One thing that is important to me is to make sure the afternoon snack is both made with a protein as well as washed down with a glass of milk. Protein in both the snack and milk are not only good for their growth, but help me assure my babes are going to have the brain power they need to get them through their homework and not crashing down from a sugar high half way through.
One of our favorite afternoon snacks are our mini ham and cheese hand pies. Here is how we make them!
Mini Ham and Cheese Hand Pies
Ingredients:
- Premade pie crust
- Thin sliced cheese (Fontina, Gouda, or Swiss)
- Thin sliced ham
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- Square cookie cutters (2 inch and 1.5 inch)
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
Once the pie crust has thawed, roll crust out on flat surface. Using the larger of your two square cookie cutters, cut out as many squares from the pie crust as you can fit.
Next, either using the smaller square cookie cutter, or knife and cut both the thinly sliced cheese and ham into squares smaller than the size of your crust.
When constructing the hand pies, you place one square crust down and then alternate ham and cheese layers on top of crust creating a small pile. I like to add 4 pieces of ham and four pieces of cheese alternating to make sure the melted cheese is throughout the hand pie. Add a second square piece of crust over the top of the ham and cheese pile and then pinch the sides of the two pieces of crust together using your fingers. 
Next, using fork, press along the outside of the crust to ensure they sealed together.
Lastly, with a pastry brush, brush on the melted butter over the top of the hand pies to make sure they come out golden brown.
Into the oven for 8-10 minutes until golden brown.
Remove from oven and serve with Dijon mustard and glass of milk.
2 comments
Looks good, can they be frozen. Mother is going in the hospital I need to pack the freezer.
Thanks.
I am sorry your mom is going in the hospital. I am sure they could be frozen, I just haven’t tried it.