When the weather outside is frightful, my baking senses start tingling. Yesterday was no exception. We had 2 days of rain and then temperatures dropped into the twenties showering us with sleet and a dusting of snow. Sitting in my recliner, my mind started taking stock of what I had in the refrigerator and cabinets to bake. I never wonder far from lemon things and having a box of lemon pie filling mix and biscuits was the start of a lemon hand pie. First, I made the lemon pie filling. The box calls for 2 1/4 c of water and I always put 2 cups of water and 1/4 cup of lemon juice. If I have a lemon, I zest it first and save the zest and then juice it. I find this gives you more lemon flavor but any lemon juice is fine. Then, while that was cooling, I took the biscuits and flattened them out, laid them on my baking sheet and spooned 3-4 spoons of the lemon mix onto the bottom layer (you can put filling to within about an inch of the edges). Next, you take another flattened out biscuit and place it over the top and pinch the edges together or take a fork and press it into the edges to join them. This will help to keep the filling from oozing out the sides. Then, I took a basting brush and dipped it into the egg whites (left over from making the box of lemon pie filling) and brushed on top of the pie. Next, I sprinkled the top with a bit of granulated sugar and lemon zest. The biscuit instructions say to bake at 350 for 13-15 minutes. I set a timer for 15 minutes and checked for doneness (I done this by sticking a butter knife through and pulled it aside just a bit to see if the dough is cooked). The middle was not done so I baked these for about 10 minutes longer to ensure the middle of the pie was cooked. I watched these like a hawk to make sure the tops and bottoms were not burning. I topped these with a healthy squirt of whipped cream just for good measure. I think these are best fresh out of the oven but, they are still good later. You could use a can of pie filling instead of the lemon or you could also use pie crust instead of the biscuits. One of my favorite things is that you can change this to what you have available in your pantry so you don’t have to go to the store for anything. Stay warm and happy baking.
