Lou McLeod: Homemade Mini Pies In Your Homestead

The blog post Homemade Mini Pies In Your Homestead Find more on: http://ift.tt/1nr27gs

I love a nice fresh homemade pie! I also love finger foods, which brings me to sharing some mini pies recipes. Finger food, meet your favorite slice of pie. Not only are mini pies an awesome way to eat pie on the go, but they’re also super cute.

Mini Pies: Quick and Easy Homemade Recipes

There’s so much to be done on a homestead, even the small ones, so on my baking days, I like to make a couple of batches of miniature pies and store some for later. You can freeze the pies after they’ve been cooked, or you can prep them all the way to the point of baking and freeze them until you’re ready to bake them. Either way, mixed with the right ingredients – and a little love – they’re big winners around the house or at this summer’s BBQ.

Next, not only will I go over the basics of the recipe for mini pies, but I will also include my personal Mixed Fruit Pie Filling Recipe and one of my favorite Pecan Pie filling recipes as well.

Recipe Yields 12 Pies. Prep Time 20 – 30 Minutes. Total Time about 1 1/2 Hours

The Basics

2 packs of 2 count ready-made pie crust – I make my own crust, but it’s optional
4 cups of desired pie filling or 2 21-ounce cans
1 large whisked egg
Greased muffin pan
4-inch cookie cutter / lid / cup
Pastry brush

1. Preheat your oven for 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Roll out the crusts you will be using for your bottoms. Using your cookie cutter, cut your pie bottoms into 4-inch circles. This size works well for muffin pans, but if you are using a smaller or larger pan just adjust the size of your circle.

3. Press the bottoms into the greased muffin pan. Be sure to leave enough crust over the lip of the rim for the tops.

4. Now it’s time to work on your tops. You can do a lattice top or a simple circle. For the circle tops, just use the same cookie cutter to cut out the tops. If you’re going for the lattice, cut about 6 thin strips and lace them together. When you choose the round top, be sure to cut a couple of air slits into it, so that it can release some steam without busting the seams.

5. Use your pastry brush and brush the tops of your pies with the whisked egg. Bake the mini pies in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is a light golden color and the filling is bubbling.

6. Allow the pies to cool for 20-25 minutes. Using a butter knife, gently loosen the pies from the pans and remove!

The Dough

If you’d rather not buy pre-made pie crust, you can easily whip up some homemade dough for your pies.

mini pies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon of sugar
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of butter
6 tablespoons of ice water

1. Mix the flour, sugar, and salt together. Add the butter, and mix it until your mixture looks like coarse meal.

2. Blend in the ice water one tablespoon at a time. When the mixture starts to clump, it’s ready to be rolled into a ball. Once you have the dough rolled into a ball, divide it in half and flatten them into pie discs. One disc is for the tops, and the other for the bottoms.

3. Wrap the pie discs in plastic and allow them to chill for about an hour or two before using them.

The Filling

mini pies

This recipe can be used to take just about any fruit and turn it into pie filling.

4 cups of desired fruit
1/4 teaspoon of cornstarch
1 cup of sugar
Spices (like nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, etc.) – to taste

1. Cut your fruit to the desired size and cook on a low-medium heat, bringing it to a low simmer. This allows the fruit juices to cook out, allowing it to add flavor. This only takes about 10 minutes, but you have to constantly stir the mix while it cooks.

2. Remove the pan from the heat and let stand. In a small mixing bowl, whisk in the sugar, cornstarch, and spices until it’s blended and smooth.

3. Add your dry mix to the fruit blend and mix together really well. The sugar granules should be completely dissolved.

4. Put the pan back on a low simmer until the pie filling thickens, allow it to cool, and make your pie or can it for later.

Fruit Medley Pie Filling

Once, I really wanted to make some pie, but to my dismay, I discovered that I only had a little bit of a bunch of different fruits. So I did the only thing I knew how to do, and I combined a little bit of everything to make one amazing mixed fruit pie.

My fruit combination consisted of:

2 cups of peeled peaches
1/2 cup of apples
1/2 cup of pears
1/2 cup of cherries
1/2 cup of bananas

Cook the filling down just as I explained in the basic filling recipe. I add cinnamon, nutmeg, and a little allspice to my mixture.

Precious Pecan Pie Filling

1/2 cup of dark brown sugar (firmly packed)
1/2 cup of dark maple syrup
1/4 cup of raw honey
1/3 cup of cornstarch – give or take
3 tablespoons of butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla bean extract
4 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cups of half & half
1/8 teaspoon of sea salt

1. Using a heavy saucepan, whisk the brown sugar, honey, syrup, cornstarch, egg, and half & half together. Bring the mixture to a low boil over medium heat, whisking it the whole time it cooks to avoid burning. Boil for about a minute and remove from heat.

2. Now, whisk in the vanilla bean extract and butter. Lay some wax paper right onto the mixture. Covering the filling like this prevents a film from forming on top and makes it easier to handle when it’s time to work with it.

3. Chill for 3 – 4 hours before filling your pie crust with it.

Looking for some meaty and beefy mini pies? Here’s a video to help you out!

I hope you’ve enjoyed these mini pie recipes. Remember your pantry is the limit on this one – whatever your favorite pie may be, it can be made into a mini, trust me. Happy baking!

Have you tried baking mini pies? What’s your favorite filling? Please leave your baking tips in the comment section below!

Fond of baking bread? Check out this Sourdough starter recipe for baking bread on the homestead!