Friends, this is an exception to the general theme of the blog (gf and vegan/vegetarian) that I just had to make for two reasons. Reason 1: these little mini pies were winners last night; and Reason 2: they’re adorable. If you’ve got some kind of event and most folks eat gluten and don’t mind buttery, flaky pie crust, with delicious fruity innards (and really, who hates pie?) these are such a nice easy option. Also, did I mention they’re really, really cute? 🙂 My man’s birthday party was last night, and these were pretty much the perfect little pie-friends to celebrate with.
I’ll start off by saying that when you’re short on time, making pie crust from scratch is very tricky, so I just used Trader Joe’s frozen pie crust. A little time economy was worth it so that I could actually make these.
What you need:
2 frozen pie crusts (or prep your own and make these gf)
about 6 small apples, chopped (or any other fruit that’s calling your name)
1 Tbsp coconut sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp flour (I used whole wheat, and it felt so wrong, I won’t lie)
a standard muffin tin
flour to cover your rolling surface
First thaw the crust according to the package, and roll it out. Then using a mug or glass roughly the size of the top of the muffin tin, make 12 circles in the crust and remove each circle (these will be the bottoms of the pies). Roll each out until you have about an inch of overhang when they’re fitted to each muffin spot. Repeat the process with the second crust to make tops.
Mix fruit, flour, lemon juice, and sugar in a bowl and spoon into muffin tin.
Wet the edges of each pie top, and pinch the top and bottom edges together until bonded. Make a slit in the top of each mini pie. Now, very important, chill these little guys for at least 30 minutes! While they’re chilling, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. After the 30 minutes, pop them in the oven and bake for about 30-40 min until tops are golden brown. Let them cool about 20 minutes and remove from the tin.
Share and be the happiest! Vegans and gluten-free’s, I promise I’m working on a pie for us. 🙂
Yum For Tum 
But … where’s the meat?
Ok, so I’m having a pie party to celebrate our anniversary and this did it! This rounded out our menu perfectly. I’m sure I’ll blog about it (including a link back to you!). I cannot wait to do it. I already have some gluten-free pies on the docket so I’ll just go your route with the pre-made crusts. [FYI I heard they have pre-made gf crusts out there, too.] Thanks for sharing! Do you have a gf pie recipe yet?? I’m still looking…xo
Yay! Let me know how it all goes! No crust yet, but soon….very soon. 🙂 Happy early anniversary, btw.
Thanks! I’m going for it today, a day ahead of the party. Do you think that’s ok? I’d love to serve them fresh, but there are simply too many pies to make! Plus our party starts at 1:30… such a conundrum!
Sorry I missed this! They totally keep well, though you can actually just stick them in the fridge unbaked and bake them up 40 minutes before you want to serve them. Hope everything went well! 🙂
I should have waited to bake them like you said! I think they got soft and lost their flaky crust when I kept them in the cupcake tin and then put the snap lid over them overnight. 😦 I made them with gluten so never got to try them, but I heard the taste was yummy at least! I’m blogging about them now. xo
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Thanks for the shout out! It’s like worldwide pie network! 🙂