Celebrate when cherries are in season with this recipe, or for the rest of the year frozen cherries are just fine. These hand pies are great as a snack, or tucked into lunchboxes for a treat.

Preheat oven to 350°F and place rack in the center.

To make filling: In a medium bowl toss together cherries, sugar, almond meal, cornstarch, extract and salt to combine, set aside.

To assemble hand pies: Remove pie dough from the refrigerator about 15 minutes before rolling. Generously flour a work surface and place chilled dough disk on the flour. Dust the top of the dough with flour. Using a rolling pin, roll chilled dough into a circle, turning and flipping the dough as needed with a bench scraper to prevent sticking, until the circle measures 15 inches and ⅛ inch thick. Using 4 ½ inch round cookie cutter, cut 8 circles of dough, rerolling once as needed.

Place 1 tablespoon of cherry filling in the center of each dough circle. Using a small brush, brush the dough edge halfway around with egg wash. Fold un-brushed dough edge over to create a half-circle shape and press to seal and remove any air bubbles. Press edge with fork tines to create a decorative edge and ensure sealing. Place assembled hand pies on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Continue with remaining dough circles and freeze assembled pies for 15 minutes before baking. Save remaining egg wash.

Remove hand pies from freezer and cut a small “x” in the top of each with a sharp paring knife. Brush tops of pies with egg wash to coat; sprinkle each with sanding sugar and place baking sheet in preheated oven. Bake until hand pies are golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow pies to cool for 5 minutes. Using a large spatula, transfer pies to a cooling rack. Hand pies can be served warm or room temperature.