Cherries epitomize the taste of summer – bright, tart, sweet, fleeting – and I personally like them best in pie form. I’m not usually into “cutesy” food, but not only are these mini pies adorable, they’re also efficient. If you’re having a dinner party and don’t want to have to worry about slicing out a pie, or you want to make and freeze a bunch of these for the future, the mini pies are the best. Also, they’re size means you get a better crust to filling ratio (I love crust) and the crust tends to be a lot more golden brown, so everyone’s a winner in this situation. 

I added a touch of rosewater for a floral note, but no pressure to use it if you don’t like the flavor.

INGREDIENTS

For 16 mini pies

1 cup, plus 1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons tapioca flour (or tapioca starch)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, browned

1/4 teaspoon salt

6-7 cups whole pitted cherries (about 2 pounds whole un-pitted cherries)

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon rosewater

2 tablespoons cream, plus 1/2 teaspoon rosewater

1/2 recipe pie crust (enough for one disc)

DIRECTIONS

Position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 425°F. Whisk one cup sugar, cornstarch, tapioca,  butter and salt in medium bowl to blend. Stir in cherries, lemon juice, and vanilla; set aside.

Roll out 1 dough disk on floured surface to about 1/8″ thick, and using a cookie cutter (I used a small bowl), cut out 4 inch circles. Place the circles inside a standard muffin tin and gently press them into the shape.Trim dough overhang to 1/2 inch. Pour the filling into the dough-lined divots, mounding slightly in center.

Roll out the second disk of dough on a floured surface to about 1/8″ thick and either create a lattice, use a cookie cutter and top the mini pies with cut outs, or add a full top layer of dough – literally whatever you want. Crimp the edge of the dough and brush with cream/rosewater mixture.

Place pie on rimmed baking sheet and bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Bake pie until filling is bubbling and crust is golden brown, covering edges with foil if browning too quickly, about 50-60 minutes longer. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely.

INGREDIENTS (PIE CRUST)

This is a double crust recipe, you can refrigerate for 3 days or freeze the other one for future use

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

4 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

12 ounces unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup ice water

DIRECTIONS

In a food processor or quickly using your fingertips, combine the flour, sugar, salt and butter until the chunks of butter are broken down to the size of peas and the flour feels like wet sand. Add the first 1/4 cup of water and mix until the dough comes together easily. It’s too dry if it immediately clumps apart. Add two tablespoons of water at a time, you can always add more water but not more flour, so careful not to add too much!

Gather the dough into two balls and plop them on top of two sheets of plastic wrap. Loosely wrap up each ball and press down, smooshing the ball into a disc about an inch thick.

Pop them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes while you busy yourself with the filling.