Pioneer Woman Mini Pie Recipes

INDIVIDUAL CHICKEN POTPIES

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, then add the onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring the vegetables around, until they start to soften, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the veggies and stir to combine. Cook the flour-coated veggies for 1 minute, then pour in the chicken broth (and wine, if using!) and stir to combine. Let it heat up and start to bubble and thicken, about 3 minutes.
• Stir in the chicken, then add the turmeric and thyme, then season with salt and pepper. Add the half-and-half, then stir the mixture and let it bubble up and thicken, about 3 minutes. If it seems overly thick, splash in a little more broth. Turn off the heat and let the filling cool to room temperature.
• Meanwhile, roll out the pie crusts slightly and cut out 8 dough circles just a bit larger than the pie pans (if using a muffin tin, you'll need sixteen 3 3/4-inch circles). Press a dough circle into each pie pan (or 8 muffin cups), making sure the dough comes almost to the top of each pan. Fill the pies with the chicken mixture. Lay a second round of dough over the top of each pie. Press the dough so that the edges meet, then use a fork to seal the edges. Mix the egg with 2 teaspoons water and brush it all over the surface of the crust. (Discard any extra egg wash.) Cut small vents in the surface of the crusts.
• If you're baking the pies right away, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, place the pies on a baking sheet and bake 25 to 30 minutes, until the crust is deep golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Serve them straight out of the pie pans or turn them out of the pan and serve them upside down!
• Find this recipe and more in Ree's new book, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime ($30, William Morrow Cookbooks).

PECAN PIE BITES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350˚. Spray 36 mini muffin pan cups with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
• Combine the brown sugar, butter, egg yolk and vanilla in a bowl. Beat with a mixer on medium speed, scraping the bowl often, until creamy. Add the flour, baking powder and salt; beat on low speed until well mixed.
• Shape the dough into 3/4-inch balls; place each into a prepared mini muffin pan cup, pressing the dough onto bottom and up one-third of the sides of each cup, creating a shallow cup.
• Combine all of the filling ingredients in a bowl; spoon 1 teaspoon filling into each cookie.
• Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Let cool 10 minutes in the pan on a cooling rack. Remove the cookies from the pans by running a small knife around the edge of each cookie. Place onto the cooling rack; cool completely.

MINI LEMON MERINGUE PIES ARE PERFECT INDIVIDUAL DESSERT OPTIONS

Steps:

• For the lemon curd: Combine the sugar, butter and lemon juice in a medium saucepan over low heat and cook until the butter melts. Stir in the eggs until combined. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick and creamy, 5 to 7 minutes. Press through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl. Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.
• For the crust: Combine the graham crackers and sugar in a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Pour in the melted butter and pulse to combine.
• For the meringue: Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl with a mixer until frothy. Beat in the cream of tartar. Whisk together the sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. With the mixer running, add the sugar mixture to the egg whites a little at a time and beat until the egg whites form stiff peaks, 3 to 5 minutes.
• To assemble, sprinkle a few tablespoons of the crust mixture into the bottom of eight 4-ounce heatproof bowls or ramekins. Scoop about 1/3 cup lemon curd into each. Top each with a few spoonfuls of the meringue. Use a kitchen torch to brown the meringue.

MINI PECAN PIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Mix together the granulated sugar, corn syrup, maple syrup, butter, brown sugar, whiskey, vanilla, salt and eggs in a bowl.
• Divide the chopped pecans among the pie shells. Pour the syrup mixture over the top and put a whole pecan on top of each. Bake until just set, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool.

MIXED MINI PIES

Steps:

• For the pie crusts: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with baking spray.
• Unroll the pie crusts on a clean surface. Cut 6 circles from each crust (12 total) with a 3 1/2-inch plain-edged round cutter. Press a circle of dough into each of the 12 cups of the muffin pan, lightly pressing the dough up the sides (they will not reach the tops of the cups). These will be your pie crusts.
• Poke the bottom of 4 of the pie crusts with a fork and place cupcake liners into the poked crust cups only. Fill each liner with 2 tablespoons uncooked rice. Refrigerate the pan while you prepare the fillings.
• For the crumble topping: Mix together the flour, oats and brown sugar in a small bowl. Stir in the melted butter until well combined. Set aside until ready to use.
• For the fillings: Begin filling the dough cups. (The 4 cups with the cupcake liners filled with uncooked rice will remain that way during the bake and will be filled after the bake.) Mix together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt in a small bowl until well combined. Divide the cream cheese mixture between 2 of the empty dough cups. Divide the cherry pie filling between 2 of the remaining empty dough cups. Divide the blueberry pie filling between 2 of the remaining empty dough cups. Divide the grape jam between the remaining 2 empty dough cups.
• Mix half of the crumble topping with the lemon zest in a bowl. Divide the mixture over the top of the 2 pie dough cups filled with the blueberry pie filling to make blueberry lemon crumble pies. Mix the remaining crumble topping with the crushed peanuts in a bowl. Divide the mixture over the top of the 2 pie dough cups filled with the grape jam.
• Bake the pies: Transfer the pan to the oven and bake until the crumbs on the 4 crumb-topped pies are golden, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
• Finish the pies: Remove the cupcake liners filled with rice from the 4 baked and unfilled crusts.
• For the strawberry cream pies: Toss the diced strawberries with the granulated sugar and a splash of vanilla in a small bowl. Divide the mixture between the 2 pies filled with the cream cheese mixture. Drizzle the pies with the caramel sauce.
• For the cherry pies: Divide the toasted almonds over the 2 pies filled with the cherry filling. Microwave the white chocolate and coconut oil together in a microwave-safe bowl for 15 seconds or until warm. Stir well, then drizzle evenly over the 2 pies. Top the center of each pie with a bit of whipped cream.
• For the PB and J pies: Microwave the peanut butter and coconut oil together in a microwave-safe bowl for 15 seconds or until warm. Stir well, then drizzle evenly over the 2 pies filled with the grape jam and peanut-crumble topping.
• For the lemon raspberry pies: Divide the lemon curd between 2 of the empty baked pie crusts. Top each pie with 3 raspberries. Dust each pie with a bit of powdered sugar and finish with a mint leaf.
• For the s'mores pies: Divide the hazelnut spread between the last 2 empty baked pie crusts. Mix the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter together in a small bowl. Sprinkle half of the mixture over each pie. Cut the marshmallow in half crosswise. Top each pie with one half of the marshmallow. Using a kitchen blowtorch (brulee torch), toast each piece of marshmallow to the desired level of toasted-ness.
• Transfer the pies to a cake stand or platter and enjoy!