Easy Mini Cherry Pies Food

MINI CHERRY PIES

Steps:

• Make the crust: Pulse the flour, granulated sugar and salt in a food processor. Add the shortening and 1 stick butter; pulse until the flour looks like coarse meal. Add the remaining butter and pulse until it is in pea-size pieces. Add the egg yolk and 6 tablespoons ice water; pulse until the dough just begins to clump, adding up to 2 more tablespoons water if needed. Transfer the dough to a large sheet of plastic wrap and gather into a 2-by-12-inch log. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours or overnight.
• Put a baking sheet on the middle oven rack and preheat to 400 degrees F. Make the filling: Combine the cherries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest and juice, and almond extract in a large bowl; toss until the sugar is dissolved and the cherries are coated. Set the filling aside.
• Cut the dough in half; cut one half into 6 pieces (keep the other half refrigerated). Roll each piece into a 6-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Ease each round into a 5-inch pie plate, letting the excess dough hang over the edge. Evenly divide the filling among the bottom crusts (the pies will be full).
• Remove the remaining dough from the refrigerator and use to make the top crusts (see options below); assemble the pies. Brush the top crusts with the beaten egg and sprinkle generously with coarse sugar. Refrigerate the pies until firm, about 30 minutes. Put the pies on the hot baking sheet in the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Bake until the crusts are golden and the fruit is bubbling, 55 to 60 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely.

MINI CHERRY PIES

Steps:

• For the crust: In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, salt and butter. Pulse the processor until the mixture resembles fine sand. Remove the lid and add the ice water to the mixture. Run the processor just until the mixture rolls itself into a little ball. If the mixture is a bit dry, add more ice water by the tablespoonful until it comes together. Gather the dough into a ball. With a bench scraper or knife, divide the mixture evenly in half. Shape each half into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes.
• Cook's Note: At this point you can keep the wrapped dough in the refrigerator for a few days or freeze for later use.
• For the filling: In a saucepan, combine the pitted cherries and 1 cup water over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cornstarch. Using a whisk, swirl the ingredients together, making sure that there aren't any lumps in the cornstarch. Add the sugar-cornstarch mixture and lemon zest to the cherries. Cook the cherry mixture until it comes to a rolling boil. Cook 1 minute more, until thickened. Allow the cherry filling to cool slightly while you prepare the crust.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a 24 cup mini muffin tin or 2 (12 cup) mini muffin tins with cooking spray.
• Roll the dough disks out into 10-inch rounds on a well-floured work surface. With a 1 1/2-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter, edge lightly dipped in flour, cut 24 rounds from the first rolled out disk. With a 2-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter, edge lightly dipped in flour, cut 24 rounds from the second rolled out disk. You should have a total of 24 (1 1/2-inch) rounds and 24 (2-inch) rounds for matching top and bottom crusts.
• Gently fit the 2-inch dough rounds into the bottom of the prepared mini muffin tin. Make sure to pat down the bottom and the excess coming up the sides. Spoon about 1 heaping tablespoon cooled pie filling into each crust-lined cup. Fit the top of each mini pie with a 1 1/2-inch dough round, pushing down gently and sealing the bottom crust and top crust by crimping the edges together with a fork. With a sharp paring knife, make 3 small incisions on the top crust, to allow the steam to escape.
• Bake until the edges are golden brown and the filling is bubbly, about 12 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack, and then remove from the muffin tin.

EASY MINI CHERRY PIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°F. For the Mini Cherry Pies, unroll crusts on lightly floured surface. Using a 3 1/2-inch round cutter, cut out 6 rounds from each crust. Re-roll scraps as necessary. Press dough rounds into muffin pan sprayed with no stick cooking spray. Set aside.
• Mix cherry pie filling and almond extract in large bowl. Divide evenly among crusts.
• For the Topping, toss almonds and butter in medium bowl. Sprinkle with sugar and spices; toss to coat. Sprinkle evenly over cherry filling.
• Bake 14 to 18 minutes or until topping is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

EASY MINI BLUEBERRY (OR CHERRY) PIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Lightly spray 16 (2-inch wide) muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray.
• In a medium bowl combine flour, brown sugar and cinnamon.
• Using a pastry blended cut the cold butter until it resembles coarse crumbs; stir in nuts.
• Separate the dough into 8 biscuits.
• Split each biscuit in half to make 16 rounds.
• Using floured fingers flatten each to form a 4-inch round.
• Press each round into muffin cup.
• Spoon about 2 tablespoons pie filling into each biscuit-lined cup.
• Sprinkle each with about 2 tablespoons flour/cinnamon mix (cups will be full).
• Bake for 15-22 minutes or until golden brown.
• Cool 5 minutes, then remove from muffin tins.
• Place on a wire rack to cool.
• In a small bowl mix the 3 tablespoons sugar with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.
• Just before serving top each with whipped cream then sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar on top of the whipped cream.

MINI CHERRY PIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Unroll the pie crusts, and cut 2 6-inch rounds from the dough; cut the remaining dough into 1/8-inch strips for a lattice crust. Fit the rounds into 2 5-inch mini pie dishes.
• In a bowl, stir together the cherries, tapioca, sugar, and almond extract; let the filling stand for 5 minutes to soften the tapioca. Stir the filling again, and spoon into the pie shells. Use the strips to weave a lattice crust on each pie, and pinch the crusts together.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the crusts are golden brown and the filling is bubbling and thickened, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.