Mini Chicken Bacon Spinach Artichoke Hand Pies

Cooked mini hand pies arranged on a baking sheet.

Mini Chicken Bacon Spinach Artichoke Hand Pies

Bring the flavors that everyone loves to the party with these mini chicken bacon spinach artichoke hand pies. This appetizer is perfectly flaky and not so cheesy that you don't want to eat it on a hot day.

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine American

Prep Time 2

Cook Time 1

Total Time 3

Servings servings

Calories 144kcal

Author Mackenzie Ryan

Ingredients

Hand Pies

1 batch pâte brisée pie dough
1 lb. chicken breasts, sliced
4 strips of bacon, roughly chopped
6 cloves of garlic, minced
12 oz. spinach, roughly chopped
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
½ c. parmesan cheese
½ c. fontina cheese
1 can of artichoke hearts in water, drained and roughly chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

Wash & Garnish

2 tbsp. milk
½ tsp. italian seasoning
½ c. parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Instructions

Pie Dough

Follow the directions HERE for making pie dough. Do the full recipe to yield the equivalent of two pie crusts.
Roll the pie dough into three 12x18 rectangles (roughly). Separate them between layers of plastic wrap or parchment paper, cover them, and refrigerate until needed.

Filling

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Place the chicken in a single layer in an oven safe baking dish and bake for 30 Minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. If you bought really thick or large breasts, it may take up to an additional 20 minutes or longer (give or take).
In a heavy bottomed deep skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon pieces to your desired level of crispiness. Remove the bacon from the skillet, set it aside, and drain most of the bacon fat into a safe disposal area.
Return the skillet to the heat and add in the garlic. Sauté until it just starts to caramelize; about 1 Minute. Working in batches if necessary, add in the spinach and reduce the heat to low. Stir occasionally until the spinach has wilted into bright green and thoroughly cooked pieces, but are not yet limp or look like canned spinach. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.
While the spinach wilts and cools, use the back of a wooden spoon to beat the cream cheese until smooth. Stir in the parmesan and fontina cheeses, season with a little salt and pepper and gently stir in the artichoke hearts and bacon pieces.
Once the chicken has cooled to room temperature, cut it into bite sized pieces and add it and the spinach to the cream cheese mixture.

Assemble and Bake

Working with one sheet of pie dough at a time, cut each rectangle of dough into 12 pieces (4 vertical rows, three horizontal). They should be roughly square shaped.
Place one overflowing tablespoon of filling into the center of each piece and fold from one corner to the other to make a triangle. Use your hands or the tines of a fork to seal or crimp the edges together until completely sealed. You may have to fold in the corners first to make sure they don't have a small hole. If your dough is too dry to stick together when sealing it, try dipping your finger in a little bit of water and running it along two of the sides before creating the triangle.
Cut a small slit into the top of each hand pie and repeat the previous step with each rectangle of pie dough. Make sure to place the finished hand pies back into the refrigerator between batches so the dough stays chilled.
Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Add as many hand pies as you are comfortable with onto the sheet pan, making sure that they don't touch, and brush them with the milk. Sprinkle a little of the garnish on top of each hand pie and bake for 30 Minutes, or until the pie dough is golden brown. Remove and repeat until all the mini hand pies are cooked.

Notes

If you want to make this into a meal instead of an appetizer, you can cut three vertical rows in each rectangle of pie dough, place a heaping ⅓ cup of filling into the center, and fold the dough up to create a rectangle. Bake for 45 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Nutrition