I’ve never understood why people are afraid of pie crust, that flaky, melty, lovely goodness that serves as a cradle for sweet and savoury fillings alike. You can roll out the pre-bought crust? You can make this crust! Promise.
Right now we need things/foods that do double/triple/infinity-uple duty. Pies for breakfast, snack, and dessert! Let’s do this little pie.
No lies, every time I mix up a pie crust, I marvel at how easy it is to bring together. Drop in, mix, wrap, chill. I have a no fail recipe that has always yielded wonderful results, so once to waiting and freezing is over, pie crust is easy as…ha, pie!
To start, we bring the crust together with the mixer, chill it, and roll it out. Don’t be impatient like me and try to roll it out warm, it doesn’t shake out well. If the crust is too warm, it tends to fall apart, but if the crust is too cold, it’s nearly impossible (unless you have Hulk arms) to roll out to the desired thickness. I used a mix of whole wheat and all purpose flour, to give the dough a hearty bite, but still keeping the tenderness with the all purpose flour.
Make sure your crust isn’t too thin, or it will not hold up to your little pockets of filling properly and cherry pie will come oozing out while it’s baking. Too thick and all you will be left with is all crust and no filling, blegh. Let’s leave room for the good stuff!
I used a Mason jar to cut out my circles, but anything about 3-4 inches in diameter is perfect.
Cut and fill. Rinse. Repeat.
Brush on a little faux egg wash and brown sugar, bake until golden, crispy brown, and voila!
Pockets of sweet goodness. Cover with powdered sugar icing and you’re off! Make that pie crust, don’t be scared!
Mini Cherry Pies
2 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 cup non-dairy butter, cold
3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons water
2 cups cherry pie filling (this is my favorite)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
- In stand mixer bowl fitted with paddle attachment combine flours, salt, and sugar on low speed for 10 seconds.
- Add butter and melted coconut oil, mixing on low until pea sized crumbs are formed, about 20 seconds.
- Add ice water while mixing on low, 1 tablespoon at a time. Dough will start to come together and form a ball.
- To test dough, squeeze a small piece, it should hold together.
- Form dough into disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until well chilled, about 1 hour or up to overnight.
- When dough is chilled, remove from refrigerator and let sit for 5-10 minutes, this will allow the dough to soften up enough to roll out easily.
- Roll dough out to 1/4-1/2 inch thickness. Use jar or round cookie cutter to cut out circles about 3-4 inches in diameter.
- Place dough circles on greased cookie sheet , spacing 1/2 inch apart.
- Spoon 1-2 tablespoons of cherry pie filling into the center of the dough circle. Place another dough circle on top and seal edges with tines of a fork.
- When all dough circles have been filled and sealed, brush top with faux egg wash ( 1 teaspoon Ener-G dissolved in 1 teaspoon water) and sprinkle with brown sugar.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes, or until edges and tops of pies are golden brown. Some filling may ooze out, but that’s ok!
- Remove from oven and cool for 30 minutes, preparing icing while pies are cooling.
- To prepare icing, combine powdered sugar, milk, almond extract, and vanilla extract until powdered sugar is completely incorporated. Add more powdered sugar or milk to achieve desired thickness.
- Pour icing over cooled pies and enjoy!
Paola @ gnom-gnom.com says
drooling here… I LOVE cherry pies! And I agree, I dont know why people are so afraid of pie crust- it is not hard and so much better when made at home!
Abby @ totesdelishblog says
Hi Paola! Thanks for stopping by! : ) Glad we agree, we should just be pie crust making cheerleaders for the nervous out there!
bakerbynature says
Love these!!
kale says
i totally love cherry pie filling! i’d eat it with a spoon, or from the can even!
these little pies are adorable. i want them all.
Abby @ totesdelishblog says
Me too!! I really had to stop myself from eating all the filling before I filled the pies! By the way, I just spent a fair amount of time perusing your blog and I love it! I was drooling over your photos and your travel posts!