Easy and Delicious Strawberry Mini Pies

These easy, delicious strawberry mini pies are everything a summer fruit pie should be:  crispy, flaky, tender and bursting with fresh strawberry flavor. The dough is no-fuss, comes together in minutes, and is easy to roll out. The filling is pretty simple too as all you need are bright red, fully ripe, aromatic strawberries. The flavor of these mini tarts depends greatly on how flavorful the strawberries are. This recipe is a slightly adapted version of a recipe from King Arthur Flour.

The dough is very buttery and it is best to not overwork it. You can mix it by hand, or, you can use your stand mixer. Chilling it for two hours will ensure that the little pockets of butter will remain cold while rolling. This, will also result in a flaky dough. While the dough is chilling, make the simple strawberry filling and let it cool completely.

This recipe makes 10 individual and utterly portable mini pies. Make them this weekend; make them for a BBQ, a potluck dinner, make them to share with your friends at the office or to send them with your kids to school. Once you try them first with strawberries, you can use other seasonal fruits and experiment. Scroll down to see the photo tutorial of all the steps I have made. Have a great weekend!

Easy Strawberry Mini Pies

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

55 mins

 

Individual strawberry mini pies with a buttery crust and a delicious filling!

Author: Marilena Leavitt

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 10 mini pies

Ingredients

• For the Crust:
• 2 cups AP flour
• 2 TBSPS. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) very cold unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
• 1 large egg
• 2 TBSP. cold milk
• For the Filling:
• 8 oz. fresh, ripe strawberries, trimmed and quartered
• 2 TBSP. sugar
• 1½ tsp. Instant Clear Jel (or 1 tsp. cornstarch)
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• For the Topping:
• 1 large egg, beaten, to brush on the dough
• --- Coarse white sparkling sugar or pearl sugar, to sprinkle on top

Instructions

1. To make the pastry, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Work in the butter until pea-size lumps form. Combine the beaten egg and the milk and add it to the dough to make a cohesive dough. Do not overmix. (If you have it, you can use the a stand mixer equipped with a paddle).
2. Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a 3" x 5" rectangle, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 2 hours.
3. While the dough is resting, make the filling: Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan set over medium heat. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the mixture starts to thicken. Allow it to cool to room temperature.
4. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
5. Place one piece of dough on a lightly floured work surface, and roll it into a thin 9" x 12" rectangle. Keep the second one in the fridge while you work with the first. Trim the edges to make them straight. Cut the dough into 10 equal rectangular pieces. Repeat with the remaining dough, working fast so as not to allow the dough to get warm.
6. Divide the filling among ten of the rectangles, using about a tablespoon for each. Cut a vent into the remaining rectangles and place them on top of the filled rectangles. Press along the edges with the tines of a fork to seal. (Alternatively, work with one piece of dough at a time, fill 5 rectangles and use the other 5 to top the filling - That's what I did)
7. Place on a baking sheet. Brush the tops of the pies with beaten egg, and sprinkle with sparkling sugar, if desired.
8. Bake the pies for 25-30 minutes, or until they're a light golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and cool on the pan.

Notes

1. These mini tarts are not overly sweet. Most of their sweetness comes from sweet, local, farmer's market strawberries. Do not use those oversized strawberries with the still white centers - they are not ripe enough.

2. Clear Jel is used to thicken fruit pies without changing the color or taste of the fruit. I get it from King Arthur Flour catalog and I like it because it preserves the true color of the fruit. If you don’t have that, use cornstarch instead.

3. If the strawberries are not very sweet, add some more sugar in the filling.

4. You can even make these tarts by using good strawberry (or other fruit) preserves!

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Easy Strawberry Mini Pies – Step by Step Photo Tutorial

Dough rolled into a rectangle

Spoon filling on top of half of the rectangles

Use the other half to cover the filling

With a fork seal the edges of the mini pies and with a sharp knife cut a little vent

Strawberry mini pies ready to enjoy!

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