Strawberry Hand Pies for Pi Day!

Happy Pi day everyone!  March 14th is an awesome day because it gives me the perfect excuse to bake.  I've done classic pies and pizza (pies) before on Pi day, so this year I thought I'd shake it up a bit and make hand pies.

Hand pies are great because they are perfect for portion control, and if you forgo the icing (so sad!) they're a less messy dessert option for all those messy eaters out there.  Kids, I'm talking about you.

Another part of my decision to make hand pies was because I got a set of super cute molds for Christmas (here) and hadn't gotten a chance to break them in yet.  I just love fun kitchen gadgets.  Especially ones that I can easily chuck in the dishwasher.  Woohoo!

You can use my go-to pie crust recipe, your own favorite, or heck, even store bought.  Whatever floats your boat.

I put about a tablespoon of filling (essentially a quick jam, you could do any flavor filling you want, just nothing too liquidy) into he smallest sized mold.

This set is really easy to use.  I just lightly pressed down and gently flipped the hand pie out onto a lined baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes, rotating halfway through, and remove when the hand pies are firm and just barely beginning to turn golden at the edges.

Once the hand pies have cooled, drizzle with a basic icing.  Then eat them all.  :)

I used frozen strawberries in this recipe because I like the jammy consistency I know I can get every time with them.  Plus, even with the sugar they retain a bit of tartness, which I enjoy.

Strawberry Hand Pies
makes about 12-14

Ingredients:
Filling:

• 16 oz. bag frozen strawberries
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 Cup powdered sugar

Crust:

• 2 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
• 7 tablespoons ice water

Icing:

• 1/2 Cup powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons milk
• dash red food coloring

Directions:

1. Make the crust.  In a food processor add the flour, salt, sugar, and butter.  Pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand.  Slowly add the water as needed until the mixture is a solid, bt not sticky.  Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
2. Make the filling.  In a pot on medium high heat add the frozen strawberries.  Stir occasionally until they have fully thawed and have begun to break down.  Then stir in the cornstarch, lemon juice, and powdered sugar.  Use a potato masher to break up any large pieces of berry, otherwise just continue to stir occasionally until the filling begins to tighten up.  Remove from heat and let cool a bit.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  After the crust has been refrigerated at least 2 hours roll it out thinly on a flour covered counter.  Use a dough press or a large round cookie cutter to cover the dough with circles.  Place 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of each circle and fold the circles in half, pressing the edges down.  Place the hand pies on a lined baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes, rotating halfway through.  Remove the hand pies from the oven when the edges are firm and only beginning to turn golden.
4. Allow the hand pies to cool and make the icing.  Combine the powdered sugar, milk, and food coloring and mix well.  Gently drizzle the icing over the cooled hand pies and waiting for the icing to dry.  Enjoy.

mini tart cups

These mini tart cups are so cute and easy.  They are the perfect snack size, and can be made in so many flavors and varieties!  All you need is any sugar cookie, cracker, or shortbread dough that can be rolled out.  I used a biscuit cutter with a scalloped edge because it makes the tart edges prettier.

Gather up your favorite dough recipe (that can be rolled out), a muffin tin, and a biscuit cutter slightly bigger than the muffin tin base.

Roll out your dough fairly thin because it will puff up a bit when it bakes, and you want plenty of room for tart filling!  I should have rolled this batch a bit thinner, but they still worked fine.  Just don't roll your dough CRAZY thin, because you want the tart crust sturdy enough to support the weight of your filling.

Use your biscuit cutter and cut out the dough in slightly bigger circles than the bottom of the muffin tin openings.  Spray the muffin tin well with cooking spray before you lightly press the dough in and they'll pop out easily after they're baked.  Grab a fork and poke 3-4 times on the tart bottoms to prevent them from puffing up too much.

I baked this batch for 18 minutes, then let them sit for about 2 minutes before I removed the tart cups to a wire rack to cool completely.

You can easily make these a day before you need them if you store them in a cool dry place.  I made these ahead of time, and I made the custard filling the day before as well.  I piped the custard into the cups right before I needed them and topped them with strawberries and blueberries.  So easy!  I love these tarts.  They taste yummy (seriously, I need an intervention to stop eating them all!), they were really easy, you can make them in advance, and they look super fancy.

Tarts are great for parties because you can just grab them and you don't need a fork or even a plate.  I love grab and go foods!  I've already got a bunch of tart variations I want to make too.  One the top of my list?

• shortbread cup + chocolate pudding + whipped cream dollop
• graham cracker cup + chocolate ganache or pudding + toasted marshmallow
• chocolate sugar cookie cup + strawberry Greek yogurt
• sugar cookie cup + strawberries + whipped cream dollop
• peanut butter cookie cup + Reese's peanut butter cup

mini tart cups

ingredients:

• 2 cups AP flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 egg
• 3 tsp milk

directions:

1. In a food processor, blend the flour, sugar, salt, and butter until it resembles coarse sand.   Pulse in the egg, then add in the milk and pulse until the dough comes together.
2. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Flour you counter and roll on the dough fairly thin.  Use a biscuit cutter slightly larger than the muffin tin base and cut out your dough.  Gently press into the greased muffin tin and lightly stab 3-4 times with a fork.
4. Bake for 18 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden.  Remove from the oven and let sit for 2 minutes before removing the cups onto a wire rack to cool completely.
5. Once cooled, fill cups and serve, or set unfilled cups aside in airtight container in a cool dry area.  Cups can always be filled and served the next day.  Once filled try to consume the cups within 3 days or the cups will start becoming soggy on the inside.

coconut cookie pie crust

Happy Pi day!  Honestly, is there ever a better reason to bake a pie than today?  I forgot all about pi day last year until it was too late to make one and I was soo sad.  Seriously.  I'm really the only one in our house who likes pie, so I figured today was a great time to branch out and try a fun one!

I'm a bit obsessed with recipes from Tate's Bakery right now.  They are all amazing.  I really wanted to try their key lime pie recipe, but I thought I'd add a fun addition.  I made a coconut cookie crust to go with it.  Who doesn't love coconut lime?  No joke, I just drooled a little bit writing that.  I might also have to adapt this crust into cookies sometime because the kitchen smelled wonderful when the crust was baking, and Jeff was so bummed because he had thought I was making sugar cookies.

This crust really is just like a big cookie.  It is really easy to work with for crust because it is easy to mold and squish without being sticky.  Even if the crust dumps out into your pie pan as a huge mess, just push it around with your fingers until you have it molded right where you want it.

There could not possibly be an easier pie crust recipe (from scratch at least!).

 Add the coconut, eggs, flour, sugar, melted coconut oil, and vanilla into a food processor and pulse until a ball forms.

The ball can be soft, but push down softly with one finger to see if its is sticky.  If it is, add flour 1/4 cup at a time until it holds together and isn't sticky.

Place the crust between two large pieces of plastic wrap on the counter.  This will make rolling it out and cleaning up after soo much easier.  As much as I love baking rolling things out is the bane of my existence, but this crust is so soft it rolls out easily.

You really don't have to make this look perfect, just roll the crust out to a general circular shape the general size to fit the base and sides of your pie pan.

This part is a little more awkward, but easily cleaned up.  Peel off the top layer of plastic wrap.  Lift up the crust and bottom layer of wrap and flip it over the pie pan.  Peel off the remaining plastic and push the crust around until it lays evenly in the pan.

Bake the crust at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes until the edges are golden.  Cool before filling.

I used the Tate's Bakery Key Lime Pie filling with my coconut cookie crust.  I'm going to think up some other fillings soon.  Ooh?  Raspberry?  Chocolate caramel?  Dang it.  Now I need to go bake some more pies...

Coconut Cookie Pie Crust

ingredients:

• 2 C shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1 C + 1 tbsp AP flour
• 1/4 C coconut oil, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. All all ingredients to a food processor and pulse until a soft ball forms.  Check to make sure crust holds together and is not sticky.  Slowly add more flour if sticky.
3. Roll out dough between two layers of plastic wrap into a circular form the general size of the pie pan.
4. Peel off the top layer of plastic wrap.  Gently flip the crust and lower layer of plastic wrap over the greased pie pan.  Remove the remaining plastic wrap and gently push the crust into place.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the edges are golden.  Remove the crust and allow to cool before filling.