recipe: mini heart pies

I love hearts & I love pie! So I thought, why not combine two of my loves and make heart-shaped mini pies. 

And because tomorrow is Valentine's day, I had a perfect excuse to make these!

Start by making your pie crust. It's actually pretty easy...

Here is a recipe for my favorite pie crust.

Of course, you could use store-bought pie crust, if you'd like.

Next, roll out your dough & cut out the hearts, using a cookie cutter.

For the filling, I used my own homemade chunky apple sauce. And it worked perfectly.

But you could used almost anything you wanted...

Fresh fruit, cut very small or even grated. Just add a bit of sugar, cinnamon & flour. 

Jams or purees. Or just store-bought pie filling.

You could even use savory combos: these & these look so good.

Just put a small amount of your filling on top of one of the hearts.

Be careful not to use to much filling or it will make a mess when you put the tops on.

Use a fork to seal up the edges.

Then, poke the tops with a fork & brush with egg.

This picture is a good diagram of these steps.

Place the pies on to a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 25 minutes, or until the crust is golden.

Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream & a drizzle of caramel sauce.

This is a perfect Valentine's Day dessert!