Yesterday was my last day of freedom this summer. I got hurt last month and had stress fractures in my leg from running. I ended up not being able to walk on it and was off for almost a month. During the down time of my “Summer Vacation” I found a amazingly spectacular, so much better, real, new job. So yesterday was sort of a last hoorah. I kept the girls home from school, we went grocery shopping, they helped put away all the groceries, we watched a movie while I folded clothes, then they helped put them all away, had lunch with Daddy, went to the pool, and while this was happening….
I made these….
I got the idea from Our Best Bites’ Star-Studded Mini Pies. While mine didn’t turn out the same, or even close to the beautiful edible goodies they made, mine were still very good. Especially since I used premade piecrusts and filling. I needed something quick and easy while they were sleeping. I may go all out one day and do it from scratch, but for only taking about 15 minutes to make they were pretty darned good!
I rolled out the piecrusts and used my tomato storage tomato for a cutter. My cup mouths were too small and bowls were too big, and it was the first thing I could grab, so it served double duty today.
Then I pinched the sides together a bit and put them inside the wrappers. You don’t have to use cupcake wrappers but I did for two reasons. 1. I didn’t want to dig or dump out the pies and the papers make it very easy to pull out. And 2. I was thinking that if we were eating them outside or somewhere other than the kitchen it would be easier to hold and they would be more portable. They papers come off very easily and nothing stuck.
To make the tops I had to mush it all together and re-roll it. I would have liked to have a creative top like a heart or a star or something creative, but when I went to get out my cookie cutters I had a whale, a giraffe, a duck, a candle, and other odds and ends. So the diamond was my best bet.
I coated the diamonds in sugar just by pressing them into some granulated sugar (which was in the other half of my tomato storage tomato). I didn’t coat them in melted butter just to save some calories. They turned out just fine without it.
This is where the girls woke up. They watched me finish putting the apples in them and wanted to eat the filling out of the can. I filled them pretty full because it was more apple slice than filling so there wasn't much to bubble over. If I were to use something like cherries or blueberries I wouldn't put as much in them because it would bubble over easily. The girls didn’t want to even touch the pies when they were done. Means more for me and the fiance though. :) They love making things and watching them be made, but they don’t always want to eat it.
I cooked them according to the directions on the crust box at 425 and they came out with very brown tips. Next time I will cook it on a lower temperature, probably around 350. Over all it was quick and easy and definitely something we can play around with until we find our perfect pie.
