Mini Cherry Pie Recipes

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.

MINI BERRY PIES

Steps:

• Unfold piecrusts on work surface. Using top of a 3-inch aluminum pie tin as a template, add 1/4 inch all around and use a knife to cut out seven rounds. Make a vent in center of each round with a 1/2-inch heart-shape cutter. Set crusts aside.
• Stir together berries, cornstarch, sugar, and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Divide mixture among seven 3-inch aluminum pie tins. Top each with a crust; use fingers to crimp sides so they stop just before edge of tin. Beat egg with 1 teaspoon water. Brush crusts lightly with egg wash; sprinkle with sugar. Freeze pies 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake until golden and juices are bubbling, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

MINI CHERRY PIE BITES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Grease a 24 slot mini muffin tin, set aside.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out one of the pie crusts into a roughly rectangular shape (about a quarter inch thickness) and cut out 12 three inch rounds.
• Press the dough rounds into the muffin tin and repeat the same process with the other pie crust.
• Combine the cherry pie filling and almond extract. Mix well.
• Spoon the cherry pie filling into the bottom crusts .
• Knead your leftover dough together, and re-roll it out.
• Cut enough 1 1/2 squares to cover each of the pies.
• Slice each dough square into 4 strips and arrange in a lattice like formation over the tops of the pies.
• In a small bowl, stir together the egg and water with a fork.
• Using a basting brush, brush the top dough with the egg wash.
• Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the hearts are golden.
• Let cool.
• Serve & enjoy!

MINI CHERRY CHEESECAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Combine crumbs and butter; press gently onto bottoms of 12 foil-lined muffin cups. In another bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla. Add egg; beat on low speed just until combined. Spoon over crusts. , Bake until centers are almost set, 12-15 minutes. Cool completely. , For topping, drain cherries, reserving 1/2 cup juice in a saucepan; discard remaining juice. To reserved juice, add cherries, sugar, cornstarch and, if desired, food coloring. Bring to a boil; cook until thickened, about 1 minute. Cool; spoon over cheesecakes. Refrigerate, covered, at least 2 hours.

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.

MINI CHERRY CHEESECAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
• Place a vanilla wafer into the bottom of each muffin cup.
• Beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla extract in a bowl until fluffy. Spoon mixture into the muffin cups, filling them 2/3 full.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cheesecake filling is set, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours. Spoon 2 or 3 cherries from pie filling over each cheesecake.

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.