Mini Cherry Pies

5 from 1 vote

Mini Cherry Pies are the perfect single-serve dessert when you’re craving homemade cherry pie that's just the right size for one.

Prep Time35

Cook Time25

Total Time1

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cherry, crust, pies

Servings: mini pie

Calories: 1072kcal

Author: Chuckie Hessong

Ingredients

Cherry Pie Filling

1 cup Sour Cherries fresh, frozen or canned
1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
⅛ cup Sugar more or less to taste
1 dash Almond Extract

Pie Crust

⅔ cup All Purpose Flour plus more for shaping and rolling
¼ teaspoon Kosher Salt
¼ cup Vegetable Shortening
Cold Water

Instructions

To Make Cherry Pie Filling:

Pour the cherries and syrup into a small saucepan. Add sugar and cornstarch. Cook on medium to medium-high.
Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, for about 2-3 minutes. When the filling is thick, stir in almond extract. Set aside to cool slightly.

Pie Crust

Whisk the flour and salt together in a large bowl.
Add shortening. Using a pastry cutter, briefly cut the shortening into the mixture until it resembles a coarse meal (pea-sized bits with a few larger bits of fat are OK).
Drizzle the cold water in, 1 Tablespoon at a time, and stir with a fork after every Tablespoon has been added. Stop adding water when the dough begins to form large clumps.
Transfer the pie dough to a lightly floured surface and carefully work the dough into a ball. Avoid overworking the dough.
Cut the dough into 2 equal parts. Gently flatten the dough into 1-inch-thick disc using your hands. Work with 1 at a time. Keep the other dough in the refrigerator until you’re ready to roll it out.
Lightly flour the work surface, rolling pin, and your hands, and sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough. Use gentle-medium force with your rolling pin, start from the center and work your way out in all directions, turning the dough with your hands as you go. Between passes of the rolling pin, rotate the pie crust and even flip it to make sure it’s not sticking to your work surface. Sprinkle on a little more flour if it’s sticking. Roll the dough into a very thin circle, large enough to fit your mini pie dish. Your pie dough will be about ⅛ inch thick, which is quite thin. Visible specks of fat in the dough are perfectly normal and expected.
Because your dough is so thin, use your rolling pin to help transfer the pie crust to the pie dish. Carefully roll one end of the circle of dough gently onto the rolling pin, rolling it back towards you, slowly peeling it off the work surface as you go. Pick it up, and carefully roll it back out over the top of the pie dish. Fold the edges of the dough under and crimp as you like.

Assemble Mini Cherry Pies:

Pour cherry filling into the bottom crust.
Roll out the second crust and place it on top of the filling. Folding the top edge under the bottom crust. Brush the top of the crust with a beaten egg yolk and cut slits into the top crust for venting.
Bake in a 425 F oven for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F. If the pie begins to get too brown, cover with foil. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the cherry filling is bubbly and the crust is golden brown.
Remove from oven and allow to cool before slicing.
Serve with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.

Notes

Use cherries packed in syrup or water NOT cherry pie filling
Add more cornstarch if your filling isn't thick enough--Add 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch to a small amount of cold water and add to the filling. Bring to a boil again to get full thickening.

Nutrition