Venison Hand Pies with Brie & Fig Jam

Hand pies are a my current obsession and these Venison Hand Pies are a tasty savoury variation! Buttery pastry, gooey brie, fig jam and a tender venison mixture. The ultimate dinner or snack any time of day.

If you love a home made pastry but are more of a savoury person, these Venison Hand Pies are for you! They are a unique and fun way to use your ground venison that will make even non hunters love it. You can make your own pastry or use store bought and they will be delicious either way.

To make these hand pies you simply get your pastry dough nice and thin, then cut it into large circles. Layer some brie cheese, fig jam, red onions and a ground venison mixture on top. Then, you fold the pastry over, seal it shut and bake until golden brown.

I love these hand pies because they are a tasty meal that can be enjoyed fresh at home or on the go. You can make a big batch and fresh them for easy meals whenever you need. The fillings can be swapped out to your liking, but I highly recommend keeping a soft cheese and some sort of sweet jelly in there. It creates the perfect sweet and savoury combo that is incredible.

Tips For Making Venison Hand Pies

1. Make sure the pastry dough is cold when you are working with it. Baking the pastry while it’s still cool, helps give you a nice flaky crust.
2. Be sure to get enough filling in the hand pies that you won’t get a bunch of air pockets, but you still want to be able to get a nice seal. Keep the filling full against the edge that is getting folded over, then keep a nice clean edges to be sealed.
3. When baking these hand pies, you will get some juices and a bit of cheese that leak out. Do not panic, just leave it be and allow the hand pies to cool away from the juices so they don’t end up soggy.

Brie & Fig Jam Venison Hand Pie Ingredients

Pastry Dough– You can follow my recipe below or you can buy puffy pastry from the store.

Ground Venison– Any ground wild game meat you have will work. Ideally you want it to have some fat in it to keep it from drying out in the pies.

Bacon– I love a little bit of bacon in these for extra flavor. Use your favorite.

Red Onion- This goes perfectly with the brie and fig jam.

Garlic– Use fresh garlic that you mince over pre minced for optimal flavor.

Egg– One egg helps to bind the meat filling.

Brie Cheese– This is my favorite, but you could sub with a mozzarella or an aged white cheddar would also be delicious.

Fig Jam- If you don’t like fig jam, you can use a red pepper jelly, or jalapeño jelly.

Flaky Sea Salt– This isn’t essential but love this addition on top of the pies.

The Steps

Make the Pastry Dough

1. Start by making the pastry (skip this if you are using store bought puff pastry). Add the flour and salt to a bowl, stir to combine.
2. Next add in the cold grated butter and stir to get all the butter coated in flour.
3. Then, add in the lemon juice and cold water and stir until it start to come together. I like to stir it a bit, then dump it onto the counter, and gently fold it to get all of the flour incorporated.
4. Once all the flour is incorporated and you have a nice thick dough, gently form it into a disk, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerator for minimum 1 hour or up to 2 days ahead of time.

Make the Filling

1. While the dough chills, fry up the bacon until crispy and chop into small pieces.
2. Next, add that to a bowl, with 1 egg, the ground venison, garlic, salt and pepper. Stir until combined.

Fill the Hand Pies

1. Remove the pastry dough from the fridge 20 minutes before you want to start rolling it. If you are using frozen store bought pastry, pull it out of the freezer about 45 minutes before using.
2. Preheat your oven to 375F.T
3. ake the dough onto a floured surface, and roll it out until it is nice and thin.
4. Then, take a bowl or anything you have with a diameter of about 4-6 inches, place it on the dough and trace around it with a knife to cut out circles for your pies. Depending on the size of circle you use, you should get about 8-10 circles.
5. Take each circle of dough, and lay a few slices of brie on one half, followed by a couple tsp of fig jam and some of the red onion.
6. Top off each one with a spoonful of the meat mixture and press it flat. You want to leave 1/4-1/2 inch of the dough without any fillings so you will be able to seal it. See photo.

1. Once you have the fillings in, mix the egg yolk with 2 tbsp of milk, and brush that with a pastry brush along the edges of the entire circle.
2. Take the empty half of the dough and fold it over top of the fillings, gently sealing the edges of the dough closed.
3. Finally, use a fork to crimp down the sealed edges.
4. Brush the tops of the pies with more of the egg wash, slice a little slit on top of each pie, and sprinkle some flaky salt on top.

1. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the pieces are golden brown.
2. Remove the pies from the baking sheet, and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before enjoying!

If you give this recipe a try, leave a comment or recipe review below!

Looking for more recipes to make with your ground meat?

https://cmbarndominium.com/to-die-for-creamy-venison-stuffed-shells/

https://cmbarndominium.com/how-to-make-the-best-homemade-venison-gyozas/

https://cmbarndominium.com/homemade-ground-venison-enchiladas/

View this post on Instagram