Favor Friday: Cherry Pie! Oh My!

I’ve been dreaming of making these mini cherry pies for what seems like forever! I found a recipe and bought the ingredients for them a few weeks ago, but it wasn’t until yesterday that I actually had a chance to make them. The process is a little time consuming, but well worth it! They turned out so cute and delicious too. Packaged up, they make great party favors for guests to take home. I think they’d also be perfect for a picnic or potluck as they’re easy to just eat with your fingers.

I used a recipe I found over at Sew Sweet Stitches Blog.

Mini Cherry Pies
Makes about 10 mini pies
• Two 9-inch pie crusts (I bought mine frozen from the grocery store)
• Two cans of tart red cherries in water (Get these in the canned fruit aisle, not like the pie filling in the baking aisle).
• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup flour
• Cinnamon
• Vanilla
• Almond extract (secret ingredient!)
• Egg and milk for crust wash (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Prepare your muffin tin. Cut squares of aluminum foil larger than the circles of the muffin tin. They should be big enough to press down into the cups and leave four corners sticking up. You’ll use these for handles to remove the mini pies when they’re done baking.

Next, unroll one of your pie crusts and cut out circles slightly larger than the circles of the muffin tin (I used a pint glass). Place the circles of dough into the foil-lined muffin tin, gently smoothing and spreading the bottom so there’s enough dough to go up the sides and meet the edge. Set aside.

Mix the filling. Drain the cherries. In a large mixing bowl, gently stir them together with the flour and sugar. Add in the cinnamon, almond and vanilla a little at a time, tasting until you get your desired flavor. Fill each muffin cup with a couple spoonfuls of filling. It should reach almost to the top, with just enough room left to finish the edges with the top piece of crust.

Add the lattice crust. Unroll your second pie crust and cut circles again like you did for the bottom pieces. Try to keep them in rows so that you can slice the strips in fewer cuts. Use a pizza cutter to slice evenly-sized strips from all the circles, try for six from each circle. Lay three strips across a mini pie in one direction, then weave in the strips for the opposite direction.

Finish the edges by cutting off excess dough with a knife. If you want a golden, shiny crust, whisk an egg into a splash of milk. Lightly brush the eggwash onto the crust before baking. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the pies are bubbling and the crusts are golden.

Once the pies have cooled, remove them from the muffin tin by pulling up the corners of tin foil. Gently peel the foil from each pie. I packaged mine up for favors using small white gift boxes, some red and pink ribbons and a pretty gift tag.