Tiny Raspberry Pies

My husband has been working really hard. He is an English teacher and seems always to be buried in a pile of papers, but still emerges long enough to play with the boys, help me get time for my own work, and take care of tasks I fail at - like shoveling out the driveway after a big snow.

When I came across a bag of frozen raspberries in our freezer, I had an idea - RASPBERRY PIE! (My husband loves raspberries and pie with equal fervor).








Hm. The only drawback is that we have been trying to get healthy. If I make an entire raspberry pie, we are likely to eat an entire raspberry pie. Probably in one sitting.

This got me to thinking about using my muffin pan to make tiny raspberry pies - just enough for dessert, but not enough to feel guilty about.


Let's give it a try. Here's what I came up with:

Filling:
1 package of frozen raspberries
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup water
3/4-1 cup sugar

Butter Pie Crust from Epicurious.com
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
6 tablespoons (about) ice water

Mix flour, sugar, salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter and add water (slowly) until a crumbly dough forms. Press the dough into the (greased) cups of your muffin pan to make little pie crusts. Pop the pan into the fridge for two hours to rest.
This should have taken only half of your pie dough. Roll the rest into a ball, then squash it into a disk. Put it in the freezer for future use.

While your dough is resting, make your filling as follows:

Filling:
1 package of frozen raspberries
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup warm water
3/4-1 cup sugar

Mix the water and corn starch together until smooth. Put it in a small pot over medium heat. Add the raspberries and the sugar. Heat and stir until the berries are fully thawed. Lower the heat and simmer until thickened.

Preheat your oven to 425. Remove the rested, chilled dough from the fridge. Fill cups about 3/4 of the way with the raspberry sauce. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, then lower your oven temperature to 350 for 15 more minutes. Remove the muffin pan and let cool completely.



Wow. These were YUMMY. Also, they were exactly the right size! Since they are pies, they probably would have frozen well, but they never had the chance. So much for eating less per sitting.

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