Mini Blueberry Pies

Simple and delicious miniature pies...

I had a difficult time naming these munchkins; I wanted to invent a name more creative than "Mini Blueberry Pies." In the end, though, as occurred with my Yummy Oatmeal dilemma, I settled on that name because it is what defines them: They are miniature blueberry pies--made with a pie crust, blueberries, and a few other ingredients.

Ahhh, these little pastries are a tasty dessert. Plump, juicy blueberries, lightly sweetened and enveloped by a warm, flaky crust. I highly recommend serving these pies with vanilla ice cream because they are only lightly sweetened, and the addition of cold, smooth, ice cream balances out the sweetness and excellently complements the flavors and textures of the pies.

I don't have any pictures of the pies paired with ice cream....but you may feast your eyes upon this snazzy pic of one pie--nicely golden brown. Yum.

If you're feeling a little bit bold, you could substitute a different fruit for the blueberries. Raspberries, strawberries, or maybe even apples would likely work. I would recommend cutting large fruits (like apples and strawberries) into smallish pieces before mixing them with the sugar, flour, etc.

I'm excited to try this recipe again soon. I plan to use a different fruit and see how it goes. If you try this recipe, let me know what you think. :-)

Mini Blueberry Pies 
Estimated preparation time: 20 minutes plus time to bring crust to room temperature as per package instructions
Estimated baking time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 refrigerated pie crust
• 1-1/2 cups fresh blueberries (about 3/4 of a pint)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• About 1 tablespoon butter, divided into fourths
• Vanilla ice cream (optional, but exceptionally tasty, accompaniment)

Instructions

1. Prepare the pie crust according to the package directions (usually it is suggested that you let the crust come to room temperature, which takes around 15 minutes--sometimes you can microwave it for a few seconds, but check the instructions).

2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
3. Rinse the blueberries and shake off excess water.

4. In a bowl, stir together the blueberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Then add the flour. Set this mixture aside.

5. Unroll the prepared pie crust onto a cutting board.

6. Cut the crust into fourths (a pizza slicer is a great tool for this). Pull the pieces apart a bit.

7. Place a scoop of about 1/4 of blueberry mixture in the center of a pie crust piece.

8. Fold up the crust around the mixture, firmly pinching the 4 edges to form a little pouch around the blueberries. Leave the top of the mixture exposed a bit, but make sure that everything is contained inside the pie crust and there are no holes on the edges.

9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 for all pieces of the crust, using equal parts of the blueberry mixture for each.
10. Place the miniature pies in a pie dish or another oven-safe dish.

11. Top each mini pie with a slice of butter (about 1/4 tablespoon for each).

12. Place the pie dish in the preheated oven on the middle rack.
13. Bake for about 10 minutes.
14. Carefully remove the dish and lightly cover the mini pies with a length of foil to avoid overly-browning the edges.
15. Place the dish back in oven and bake for about 10 more minutes.
16. Remove the dish and check the mini blueberry pies for doneness (they should be lightly golden-brown and very hot and bubbly).
17. If they aren't done yet, place them back in the oven without the foil for about 5 more minutes. The total baking time should be about 25 minutes.
18. Remove the pies from the oven.

19. Allow the mini blueberry pies to cool some before eating them because they will be quite hot.

20. Serve the pies with scoops of vanilla ice cream, or if you're gutsy, some vanilla yogurt or slightly-sweetened plain yogurt.

Enjoy!