Blueberry Cream Cheese Fried Pies and Turnovers

So, you say there’s no fancy pastry shop at your house? Don’t worry about it ’cause we’ve you fixed up. I’m talking about a blueberry cream cheese turnover, deep-fried or baked. It’s gonna make your sweet tooth jump outta your mouth.

Today we’re going be making these pies two ways and we’re going to be using a sourdough pie crust. But you can use whatever you have on hand whether it is a store-bought crust or your favorite recipe. But I would recommend trying this sourdough crust because it is one of my favorites and makes a good flaky crust.

Making the Sourdough for Pie Crust

After you get all the dry ingredients on this crust mixed well, we’re going to cut in the lard. If you can find the good homemade lard, that’s even better. But I like to cut it into cubes and add it to the dry ingredients.

If you wanna do this in a little more creative fashion, you can put this lard in the icebox or freezer and and get it chilled and then run it down a cheese grater into the dry ingredients. That way it will incorporate a little faster and better.

Get It Well Incorporated

I like to use a fork or pastry cutter and break up the lard chunks. We want it to nearly get to a cracker crumb consistency. You may end up adding just a tad more flour to get there. Today, I added about another 1/4 cup of flour.

Once you get that lard broken up well, it’s time to get your hands in it! Rub the mixture through your hands, which will help it break up even more (check out our video to see the desired consistency, below).

Add Sourdough Starter

Sourdough is gonna be a different thickness and wherever you live, due to the country and the environment and temperature, so you may have to adjust as you start putting this together.

We started that sourdough starter yesterday and let it set for 24 hours. This is a quick set so it’s quicker to start than traditional sourdough.

I’ll start by adding 1 cup of the starter to the mixture. Mix it up with a spoon well. We want it to make a soft dough that is pliable and moist but not tacky. You can add more sourdough/flour to achieve this consistency.

Roll the Dough Smooth and Make the Filling

Go ahead and roll the dough out onto a floured surface. I don’t like to roll it out as thinly as the kind you buy at the store. I usually do 1/8 – 1/4 -inch thick.

Now you have to cut these pie fellers out. Now, what do I use? It is a fancy gadget that I have invented many years back, it’s called the top to the Folgers can. It’s about 6 inches across and a good size for these turnovers. You can also use the top of a Crisco lid too.

Use the lid as the pattern to cut out the circles.

I’ve mixed up 1 block of cream cheese that has been softened, 1 can blueberry pie filling, 1 tablespoon sugar, and about 1 teaspoon of vanilla and mix it all up well until smooth.

Fill and Seal the Pies

Get a good dollop in size of that blueberry mixture and lay it right in the center of one of the dough circles. For this size, I’ll use about 2 – 3 tablespoons of the filling. You don’t want to get carried away here and think that you can put a whole bunch in there, because it’ll squish out the sides.

Before folding the pies in half to seal, brush an egg wash along the inner edges which will help them seal. Then fold over and crimp the edges together either using your fingers or a fork.

Bake the Pies in a Dutch Oven

To bake these, place on a greased baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees or until golden brown. To see how we bake them in a Dutch oven – check the video below!

Fry the Rest of the Pies

To fry: get a good fry oil heated to 350 – 360 degrees F. Add the pies to the oil and fry until they are a rich golden brown and the crust sets and is crispy. You’ll want to roll them over at least once while cooking, but be careful not to puncture them.

Drain that grease of them there a set them to let ’em cool just a minute on a paper towel or wire rack.

When they come out of that grease, I like to give them a sprinkling of powdered sugar. It’ll stick to it when it’s got that grease on there a little better.

You can also brush them with a little butter or make a glaze out of powdered sugar and milk glaze with a little vanilla or almond extract.

This is some good eating whether it’s baked or it’s fried. Just be sure to share with your neighbor!