How to make Mini Pies, Hands-On-Experience
Posted by Pie Guy
How to bake mini pies.
Get hands-on experience
Starting to bake Mini Pies
Since we tend to play with our dough more with mini pies, it is very important that the dough has been chilled. Prepare your dough by refrigerating it for an hour or more. Make sure the working surfaces are cold or at least cool to the touch.
Mini Pies – How much dough do I need?
Once you know the mini pie size and the number of pies you need to bake, you can determine how much dough is needed.
A normal double crust dough recipe that calls for two-half cups or three cups of flour will make six to eight double crust (top and bottom) four-inch mini pies and two six-inch mini pies.
These numbers depend on how thick or thin you roll out your crust.
Roll crust out thinner than for a standard pie crust to about 3/16 inch thick.
Flatten the dough
On a well-floured cool surface roll out your dough to a long rectangle about 10-inches wide, and as long as you can get it until the thickness is almost 3/16-inch.
Do not roll past the edges of the dough, just right up to them. If you do, the edges will be too thin and too fragile to hold up in the mini pie pan. The dough will tend to tear while it forms to the mini pie pan.
Cut-out mini pies
Use a large cookie cutter or something circular in the kitchen to cut out the dough circles for the pie.
You want two times the sides plus the bottom of the pie.
A four-inch mini pie will need (2 x 1″ + 3.75″ = 5.75) a dough circle of 5 3/4-inch in diameter.
A small mixing bowl works perfectly for this size.
A six-inch mini pie would need a 8-inch to 9-inch dough circle for the bottom crust.
The top crust is just the diameter of the pie pan to its outer edges and some.
Put the dough to rest
Butter the pie pans and place a strip of parchment paper in the bottoms of the pie pans or muffin cups. Place the dough circles in the pan.
It helps to chill the pans first so that the fat in the dough remains stiff and not mushy.
Working quickly, use your fingers to form the crust to the muffin pan. Push the dough to the edges and creep some of it to the top flat part of the pan.
For a single crust crimp the edges now. Refrigerate before filling or blind baking.
Mini Pie: Filling it
Filling a mini pie is no different than filling a standard pie except you use less and size of fruit pieces. This is an apple pie, so cut the apple to 1/2-inch chunks or smaller.
There are more mini pie problems.
Mini pie voids
Anything larger will create voids in the pie. Empty spaces in the filling could create a thin, cooked down filling.
Stuff as many apples as you can so that every bit of space in the pie is filled. If this is not done your filling will cook down so much were the pie will look flat in the center.
Cream filling
For mini custard and cream pies, fill it with a large spoon or small measuring cup. Keep the filling below an 1/8th inch from the top. Mini pies tend to boil over quickly. So do not get too carried away. Allow some room for expansion so that the filling does not just boil over and out.
Top it off, mini pie
Roll out your dough and cut out circles that are the same size as the diameter of the pie and some.
Brush the bottom dough edges with an egg wash before applying the top crust or use just cold water.
Press the doughs together to seal the two crusts.
Mini pie vents
When cutting vents in the pie, place them as near as possible to the center.
If you locate your vents near the edge of the pie, the filling will just run out onto your oven and smoke. We want to keep those lovely juices inside.
Mini pie dress-up
For a nice presentation brush egg wash all over the top and sprinkle with some sugar. Be creative with cutout hearts, stars and diamonds. Offset the cut out pieces next to the pie vents.
If your plans call for a lattice top, do not fill the pie to the point where it will boil out. Fillings like cherry and berry fill up to an 1/8-inch down from the top edge.
Why not drizzle some colored icing over the top of your mini pies. Apply some nuts if you prefer.
Baking the mini pie
Mini pies bake faster than a standard pie. They will cook in 25 to 35 minutes.
Place the pie in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes and then turn it down to 375 or 350 to complete the baking.
Now you know what it takes to bake mini pies. Have fun with them!
Storing and freezing mini pies
Mini pies can be stored up to two months or longer in the freezer if done right. They are great if you want to ship them by mail.
Mini pie problems…
Bake how many? Mini pie hands-on-experience
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