Mini Cherry Pies

Mini Cherry Pies are the perfect dessert for pretty much any occasion you can think of. The crust is flaky, and the filling is sweet and tangy all at the same time.

Because these are mini pies, you can literally take them on the go, and they fit in your hand perfectly! Serve these cherry pies at weddings, anniversary dinners, backyard barbecues, or pretty much any time you want a dessert that is traditional yet sensational. 

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Mini Cherry Pies Recipe

A homemade fruit pie with a flaky crust is the ultimate summer dessert. But what could possibly make a good pie even better? Making them mini-sized!

Because all the mini desserts are cute if you ask me! 🙂 These mini pies are the perfect dessert to bring to a cookout. Since they’re baked in a muffin pan, everything is contained in its own flaky, tender crust, making it less messy than a traditional fruit pie.

You can use store-bought crust and pie fillings if you are in a huge rush, but following this recipe and making everything from scratch really is the way to go. So what are you waiting for? Ditch that fork and bring these tasty mini pies to your next summer get together!

Can I Use Prepared Pie Crust for This Recipe? 

Yes, you can use a prepared pie crust if you want when you make these mini cherry pies. It’s best to buy the crust that comes in a roll, then roll it out and cut circles that will fit in the muffin tins. If you use a premade pie crust that comes in the aluminum pan, you will find that you can really only use the very bottom, so you will waste a lot of the crust. Using premade crust will save you some time and energy, but it’s not near as delicious as homemade pie crust. 

The great thing about these mini cherry pies is that you can actually use pie filling too. So, if you are in a super big hurry, that is another shortcut you can take. You don’t have to just stick to cherry, though. You can also make these pies strawberry, apple, peach, or pretty much any other kind of mini pies you like. Sometimes we make a variety of pies so everyone can choose what they like the best. 

Do These Cherry Pies Need to be Refrigerated After Baking? 

You can keep the mini cherry pies at room temperature for up to two days.

So, if you are hosting a gathering or party, you don’t have to worry about keeping them cold. They do fine sitting at room temp. If you want them to last a lot longer, you can refrigerate them for 4-5 days, and they will last. Keep them covered and away from any food that has a strong odor, or the pie may take on the other flavors and won’t be as good. 

Ingredients

The ingredients in these mini pies are super easy to work with and give you a lovely result every time. The flavor is incredible, and something you won’t soon forget either! Take a look at what you will need to make your own gorgeous mini pies. 

For the Pie Dough:

• Unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• Table salt
• Sugar
• Cold unsalted butter
• Cold vegetable shortening
• Vodka, cold
• Cold water
• Egg
• Turbinado sugar

For the Cherry Filling:

• Plum, halved and pitted
• Pitted sweet cherries or pitted frozen cherries
• Sugar
• Table salt
• Lemon juice 
• Bourbon
• Instant tapioca, ground
• Ground cinnamon

How to Make Mini Cherry Pies

First Step: Prepare the pie dough by using a medium-sized bowl with the metal blade and process the flour, salt, and sugar until they are combined. 

Second Step: Mix in the butter and shortening into the flour mixture and combine until you have uneven clumps. This takes around 15 seconds. It will appear to look like cottage cheese, and there shouldn’t be any flour that isn’t coated. 

Third Step: Use a rubber spatula to redistribute dough around the processor blade. Add in remaining flour and pulse until the mixture is evenly spread around the bowl. 

Fourth Step: Break dough into 4-6 pieces and transfer to another bowl.

Fifth Step: Add vodka and water to the mixture. Use a rubber spatula to mix in a folding motion pressing down on dough until it’s tacky and sticks together.

Sixth Step: Split the dough into 2 even pieces and flatten into about a 4-inch disk. Wrap both of them in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 45 minutes up to 2 days.

Seventh Step: Take 1 disk out of the fridge and roll out on a floured surface into a 12-inch circle that’s about an eighth of an inch thick. Use a 4-inch biscuit cutter to cut out 12 circles—chill circles in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Repeat for the  other disk.
 
Eighth Step: Use a food processor with a metal blade to process the plum and the cherries for about 1 minute or until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a large bowl. Discard solids. Add sugar, salt, lemon juice, bourbon, tapioca, and cinnamon. Let sit for 15 minutes

Ninth Step: Remove dough from the fridge and let sit for 2-3 minutes. Put 1 dough in the bottom of each muffin cup. Pat into the bottom with extra coming up the sides. Use a pizza cutter to cut thin strips out of the extra dough.

Tenth Step: Fill the dough cups with cherry filling and place strips on the top in a pattern. Let chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes and preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Remove pies from the fridge and brush with egg wash. Bake for about 20-30 minutes or until golden brown and filling is bubbling. Cool to room temperature and serve.

Enjoy!

Now, remember to save this recipe on Pinterest for later 🙂

Mini Cherry Pies

Servings: 12 mini pies

Mini Cherry Pies are the perfect dessert for pretty much any occasion you can think of. The crust is flaky, and the filling is sweet and tangy all at the same time. Because these are mini pies, you can literally take them on the go, and they fit in your hand perfectly!

5 from 1 vote

Review Recipe

Ingredients 

For the Pie Dough:

• 2 1/2 cups 12 1/2 ounces unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 12 tablespoons 1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
• 1/4 cup vodka, cold
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon water
• Turbinado sugar

For the Cherry Filling:

• 1 red plum, halved and pitted
• 3 cups about 1 pound pitted sweet cherries or 3 cups pitted frozen cherries, halved
• 1/4 cup sugar
• pinch table salt
• 1/2 tablespoon juice from 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoons bourbon
• 1 tablespoons instant tapioca, ground
• dash ground cinnamon

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Instructions

• For The Pie Dough: In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar until combined, about two 1-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds; dough will resemble cottage cheese curds and there should be no uncoated flour. Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 pulses. Transfer mixture into medium bowl.
• Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. Using a folding motion, use a rubber spatula to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Divide dough into 2 even balls and flatten each into 4-inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.
• Remove 1 disk of dough from refrigerator and roll out on floured work surface to 12-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick. Using a 4-inch round biscuit cutter, cut 12 circles out of the rolled dough. Transfer the circles to a parchment-lined baking sheet and place in the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes. Repeat the rolling, cutting and chilling process with the remaining half of dough.
• In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, process the plum and 1/2 cup halved cherries in food processor until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Strain puree through fine-mesh strainer into large bowl, pressing on solids to extract liquid; discard solids. Stir remaining halved cherries, sugar, salt, lemon juice, bourbon, tapioca, and cinnamon into puree; let stand for 15 minutes.
• Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator, and let stand at room temperature until just pliable, about 2 to 3 minutes.
• Fit 1 dough round into bottom of each muffin cup. Pat down bottom with excess coming up sides.
• Divide cherry filling among the muffin cups. With the remaining dough rounds, use a pizza cutter to cut thin strips of dough to create a lattice pattern on top of each pies. Place the muffin tin in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes before baking.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Remove the chilled mini pies from the refrigerator and lightly brush with the egg wash. Bake until golden brown and filling is bubbling, about 25-30 minutes. Transfer muffin pan to wire rack; cool to room temperature. Carefully remove pies and serve.

Author: Laura

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