YIELD: 6-8 mini pies (depending on size of cutter)

Recipe Development and Photography By: Williams-Raines

INGREDIENTS

Whole Grain Coconut Oil Pie Crust (makes enough for a double crust pie)

  • 1 1/4 cup all purpose white flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat or spelt flour
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup of ice water
  • 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil, chilled until firm

Pie Filling

  • 1 1/2 cup dark red cherries, pitted and diced
  • 1/2 cup rhubarb, diced
  • 3 teaspoons corn starch
  • 3 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Glaze

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1-3 tablespoons of milk (regular or non-dairy)

METHOD

Make the Crust (see note)

  1. Combine the water and vinegar in a small bowl, add ice to chill and set aside.
  2. In a food processor, combine the flours, sugar and salt and pulse to blend together. Add the coconut oil to the bowl and pulse just until the dough looks like moist crumbs. Drizzle about three quarters of the water over the flour mixture and pulse a few times until the dough starts coming together. If at this point it still looks dry, add the remaining water. The dough should stick together when you pinch it but not feel too dry. Some moist crumbs are ok at this point, you don’t want to over process it (Alternatively, you can cut the coconut oil into the flour by hand using a fork).
  3. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and gently pull it together to form into a disk. Wrap in plastic and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, or overnight. The dough can be frozen at this point until you are ready to use it, defrost in the refrigerator.

Make the Pies

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.
  2. Remove the crust from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes or until soft enough to roll out.
  3. In the meantime, combine all of the filling ingredients in a medium bowl, stir well to dissolve the dry ingredients and coat the fruit, set aside.
  4. Lightly dust your work surface with flour and roll out the dough, cut out circles using a 3.5 to 4 inch round cutter (I used the ring from a large mouth mason jar). Re-rolling the dough scraps once.
  5. For the bottoms of the pies, dip your finger into a bowl of water and moisten all around the inside edge of the dough, place a heaping spoonful of filling into the center of each round. For the tops of the pie, gently roll out each round just a little so it is bigger than the bottoms, place over the filling and press down around the edges to seal. Cut a steam hole in the top of each one, and crimp around the edges with a fork.
  6. Place pies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 18-20 minute,  until the pies are golden brown and the filling is bubbling and thick.  Remove from the oven and let cool.
  7. To glaze the pies; add the powdered sugar to a bowl and whisk in a tablespoon of milk at a time until you get a smooth and slightly runny consistency, spoon a tablespoon of glaze over each pie and sprinkle with additional sugar if desired. Let the pies rest until the glaze is dry before handling.
  8. Serve the same day, store leftovers in an airtight container. Pies can be frozen for up to 3 weeks.

NOTE:

The whole grain crust for these little pies makes them sturdy and crisp, almost like cookies, so they travel well and hold up to little hands at a picnic. But any pie crust can be used, homemade or purchased, as long as it is not too delicate.

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