Hello, fall, is that you? I’m not ready for you yet, can you wait a hot sec while I finish up with summer? K thanks.

It’s actually insane that there are only four more months left in the year. Time truly is an illusion. I’ve given up on keeping track of it. Now, I’ll just know what’s going on by the fruits and vegetables available when I grocery shop.

Mangoes define summer to me. I spent many summers in India, in the peak heat without air conditioning or often, without any electricity at all. Whatever refreshment I missed from AC, I got from mangoes.

Most mangoes in the US are imported and therefore don’t even come close to the joys of a summer Indian mango. But—the Indian store sells the pulp of Alphonso mango (the best variety) in cans, and you best believe I go hard on those cans.

These mango cheesecake hand pies came about when I had extra frosting left over from my weekend milk bread rolls. I was not about to throw away perfectly good cream cheese frosting, so I made pie crust, punched out circles, and filled them up. Cream cheese frosting is essentially cheesecake filling anyways, and I added a bit of mango pulp cuz why not. The final product: buttery, flaky, creamy, summery mango cheesecake hand pies.

Because mangoes are imported, they’re usually available in most grocery stores. You can buy them fresh and make your own puree, or you can just purchase a can online. The benefit of buying canned puree is guaranteed flavor—canned puree is made when mangoes are completely ripe, so you’ll get a can full of summer sweetness.

Fall, I’m not quite ready for ya, so Imma just eat all these hand pies instead.

Recipe notes:

You can substitute whole milk for buttermilk.
Make the hand pies in advance and freeze them until ready to use whenever you need a treat!
This is a small batch recipe which makes 7-8 hand pies. If you want to make more, just double the recipe.

Mango Cheesecake Hand Pies with Mango Drizzle

Created by Shikha on August 31, 2020

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Cook Time: 25m

Yield: 7-8 hand pies

Ingredients

For pie crust:

150 grams (1.25 cups) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, very cold
6 tablespoons buttermilk, also very cold

For filling:

8 ounces full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
1/2 cup mango puree (fresh or canned)

For assembly:

Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
1 large egg, room temperature

Instructions

For pie crust:

Put the flour, salt, and powdered sugar in a medium-sized bowl and whisk gently to combine.
Cut the butter into large cubes, and add to the bowl. Use your hands to smush the cubes with the flour until the mixture looks shaggy and the butter is evenly dispersed—it won’t look like a ball yet, and you'll still have large pieces of butter throughout.
Add in 2 Tbsp of the buttermilk and continue mixing with your hand until the dough comes together into a smooth ball. If it won’t come together after 20ish seconds, add 2 more Tbsp of buttermilk until you are able to make a ball.
Form dough into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at leat 1 hour before using.

For filling:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the cream cheese and powdered sugar. Beat on medium speed until sugar is mixed in. Change speed to medium-low and add milk, mixing until the mixture is completely smooth.
Scoop mixture into a piping bag with a 1/2-inch opening (no tip needed), or a ziploc bag with an end cut off (you can also just use a teaspoon to scoop, but this is a cleaner method). Place the piping bag in a large glass with the smaller end folded over so the filling doesn't spill out. Store in the fridge until ready to use.

For assembly:

Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper and set aside.
When the dough has sufficiently chilled, remove from fridge and place into a floured surface. Roll dough out into a large circle until it's about 1/8" thick, flouring as needed so the dough doesn't stick.
Use a biscuit cutter or the top of a glass to punch out rounds - you should get 14-16 of them. Since half of these rounds will be the top of the hand pies, make sure you cut out an even number.
Place the rounds on the prepared baking sheet and chill for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.
Remove baking sheet from fridge. On HALF of the rounds, pipe a small mound of the cream cheese mixture in the middle, around 1 teaspoon. Aim to have the mound sit higher rather than flatter, otherwise you'll have trouble sealing the pies. You'll have extra cream cheese left, so place that in a small bowl and set aside for now.
Add around half a teaspoon of mango puree on top of the cream cheese. Return baking sheet to the fridge for 10 minutes to chill.
To seal the pies, dip your fingers in water and run them around the edges of the rounds that have the filling on them. This will help them from breaking open.
Carefully place the filling-free rounds on top of the cheesecake rounds. Don't press down on the tops if you can help it, or the filling will leak out. Gently stretch the dough a bit to fit over the filling and onto the edges.
Use a fork to crimp the edges of each hand pie so it's properly sealed. Put the hand pies in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk the egg with 1 Tbsp of water.
Remove baking sheet from freezer and brush with the egg wash. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the hand pies are a deep golden brown and smell delicious.
Place baking sheet on a wire rack to cool down. In the meantime, take the extra cream cheese you had put in the small bowl earlier. Add another few tablespoons of mango puree to thin it out and make it more liquidy.
Once the hand pies have cooled for 10 minutes or so, use a spoon to gently drizzle the mango cheesecake icing over the tops of each one. Serve immediately!