Mini Cherry Pies

If you are not a huge fan of the preservatives in food that provide a 6 month shelf life, you may consider making these easy little pies from scratch. You can control the amount of sugar and salt in the recipe to make them a *little* more healthy. But they are still pies...

Mini Cherry Pies

One half recipe of Cherry Pie Filling (You can also use canned pie filling.)
A batch of Never-Fail Pie Crust

These would also work with apple pie filling, lemon pie filling, or any other filling you like. The advantage to making these little pies is that they travel pretty well, making them ideal for picnics or school lunches.

Preheat your oven to 400° F.

Roll out the dough, but don't get it too thin. You don't want it as thick as a sugar cookie, but if you get it too thin, the crust will split along the fold.

If you have a nifty mini-pie maker, use it to cut out circles for the pies. If you don't have a pie-making tool or a huge round cookie cutter, use a cereal bowl with a narrow rim as a cookie cutter.

Place a couple tablespoons of filling on one half of the circle. Too much filling will split the pie crust when you seal the edges.

Brush the entire edge of the pie crust with a little water to moisten the edges. If you skip this step, the pie filling will probably ooze out all over when the pies are baking.

Fold the pie crust in half over the filling.

Crimp the edges of the pie using the tool, or use a fork or your fingers to create a pie crust edge, making sure the crust is sealed well. Place the pies on a baking sheet. I used parchment paper to line the cookie sheets, making clean up a breeze. Make as many pies as you want. A single recipe of the crust makes about 8-10 little pies.

Cut a little vent in the top of the pies. One little poke with a knife tip will work, or you can get fancy.

Bake the pies for 20-25 minutes at 400° F, until the tops are browned and the pie crust is cooked all the way through.

Mindy's Note: I suppose you could glaze these with a thin frosting if you really want them to be like those store-bought things. You could also brush them with an egg wash and sprinkle on some sugar, and they would be gorgeous. By the time I had pitted cherries, cooked the filling, made pie crust, made dinner, cleaned up, and then put together the pies, I didn't take any time to brush them and add the sugar. And oh yes, I made a double batch, so I had enough extra dough to make Pie Crust Cookies by rolling out the extra dough on a cookie sheet, then sprinkling the dough with cinnamon sugar before baking it for 8-9 minutes.