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Tuesday, September 24, 2013

mini peach pie party!


 
I’m a sucker for PIES AND I’m a sucker for anything mini..SO with that combination, I’m turning into a MINI-PIE-MAKING-FOOL! These little pies are SO fun to make AND eat! I grew up living for that occasional Saturday morning trip to the Hostess outlet where my mom would always buy me a fruit pie (had to be cherry). And these are about 1,000 times yummier.
 My daughter bought me THIS Wilton mini pie press at Bed Bath & Beyond (never shop there without a 20% off coupon) for about $5 & I LOVE it. You could easily make mini pies without it though, see note at bottom of post for directions. They are super easy & SO DARN CUTE. You basically cut pie crust into rectangles, fill, press & bake. YUM!
I made homemade pie crust but you could DEFINITELY use a store bought refrigerated pie crust. I made a double recipe of my usual pie crust & it made the perfect amount for 8 mini pies.

I have a list of pies I’m planning to make with this little gadget including ham and cheese hot pockets, pepperoni and cheese pizza pies, apple pies, cherry pies & chicken pot pies. I also want to experiment with freezing them before baking so we can have fresh hot pie at a moment's notice. I’m pretty sure it’ll work. And I probably shouldn't admit this but I'm going to FRY some!

Mini Peach Pies
click HERE to print recipe only
makes 8 mini pies

ingredients

Pastry for two standard 9 inch pies, rolled out but not baked (I doubled THIS RECIPE)
Fresh peaches, peeled, sliced and cut into bite sized pieces to measure 3 cups (about 4 small to medium peaches)
½ cup sugar (add an extra tablespoon if your peaches aren’t very sweet)
1 ½ tablespoons all purpose flour
½ to 1 teaspoon cinnamon, depending on taste
½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter
1 beaten egg to seal the edges of your pies
3 tablespoons sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon to sprinkle on top of pies.

directions

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper for baking your pies. Have your pie crust dough prepared and rolled out but not baked. I rolled out half my crust, made 4 mini pies then rolled out the other half & made 4 more.

2.  In a medium bowl stir together the peaches, sugar, flour, cinnamon and lemon juice. Place in a strainer. Save the juice to drizzle over the vanilla ice cream you serve with your pies.
3.  Cut pie crust into 4 1/2" x 3" rectangles. I cut it with a pizza cutter. You need two pieces of pie crust dough for each pie (top and bottom). I doubled the recipe of my pie crust and it made 16 pieces so 8 mini pies, perfectly.

4.  Press one piece of pie crust into the side of the mold with the crimped edges. (See the P.S. below if you don't have the mini pie press.)

5.  Top with 2 tablespoons of peach mixture. Place a little pat (less than a teaspoon) of butter on top of the peach filling.

6.  Brush edges of dough with beaten egg and lay second piece of dough on top. Close the pie press to crimp edges and seal pie. Trim excess dough if necessary.

7.  Remove mini pie from pie press and place on prepared baking sheet. Piece with a fork or cut slits into top crust to vent. Sprinkle with a teaspoon of cinnamon sugar mixture.

8.  Bake for 15 to 18 minute or until golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream drizzled with drained peach juice.
P.S. If you don't have the mini pie press just assemble the mini pies on your baking sheet: place a piece of pie crust on the baking sheet, spoon filling in the middle of the crust, add pat of butter, brush edges with egg, cover with top crust and seal edges with a fork all the way around. Vent, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar & bake.


Monday, September 2, 2013

frosted peanut butter cookies and a giveaway party!



Are you a certified peanut butter lover like my husband? He lives in fear of running out of PEANUT BUTTER. He likes it EXTRA crunchy and he eats it everyday.  He seriously gets upset if he thinks someone has touched his peanut butter. Trust me, I wouldn’t dare even think of getting between him and his pb! My main grocery duty is keeping the man in peanut butter and I do it well.

These cookies make him very happy even though, believe it or not, the cookies don’t have any actual peanut butter in them.  They are bursting with Reese’s peanut butter chips, plus frosted with creamy homemade peanut butter frosting and sprinkled with chopped peanuts.
 I adapted the recipe from a YUMMY bakery in Bountiful, Utah called Cutler’s Cookies. They teach cookie classes occasionally and very generously share their recipes.  All of their cookies are SO delicious! Two cookie baking tips I learned from the owner of Cutler’s is 1. They ALWAYS use cake flour. It makes their cookies SUPER soft and light. 2. They scoop the cookie dough onto parchment paper and freeze the cookie dough balls so they are always ready to bake a fresh batch at a moment’s notice. If they run out of cookies in the bakery case they can have more ready to sell in about 15 minutes. This cookie dough freezes perfectly & if you have it in an airtight container it will stay fresh in the freezer for up to 3 months.

If you ever get a chance to go to Cutler’s they have three locations in Davis County, Utah. Besides cookies, they have gourmet sandwiches, homemade bread and delicious soups.

Frosted Peanut Butter Cookies
click HERE to print recipe only
makes about 20 large cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
3 ¼ cups cake flour
1 12 ounce bag Reese’s Peanut Butter chips
Peanut butter frosting, recipe below
Chopped peanuts or mini chocolate chips to garnish, if desired

1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.    Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, salt, baking powder and baking soda until creamy.
3.    Add eggs and beat well.
4.     Mix in flour until just blended together. Stir in peanut butter chips.
5.    Using an ice cream scoop, drop on parchment-lined cookie sheet about 4 inches apart. They are large cookies so I only bake 6 at a time. 
     **Note: To freeze cookie dough to bake later: after scooping onto parchment lined cookie sheet and before baking, I stick the pan in the freezer for a few hours so they are individually frozen. Then I put the frozen cookie dough balls in a zip lock bag so I've got fresh cookies ready to pop in the oven at a moment's notice. Here is a batch going in the freezer to bake later.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until set. I always slightly underbake my cookies because I like them soft & gooey. Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely.
      7. Spread peanut butter frosting on cooled cookies & sprinkle with chopped
           peanuts or mini chocolate chips, if desired.

 Peanut Butter Frosting

½  cup butter, softened
½ cup peanut butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons milk to thin for desired consistency

1.    Cream together butter and peanut butter.
2.    Beat in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until smooth.
3.    Add milk a tablespoon at a time, until frosting is smooth and creamy.
                                                        *GIVEAWAY*
AND...for those celebrating back to school or to cheer up those who aren't celebrating (like me), I'm giving away this SWEET handmade apron. My friend, Kim, made this and she is a VERY talented seamstress. The apron is ADORABLE! It is generously cut to fit all sizes; it's reversible with a deep pocket on both sides, has a cute ruffle at the bottom and coordinating ties at the neck and waist. Everyone is eligible for TWO entries, see directions below. Contest ends Saturday night, September 7 at midnight.
Contest is
OVER
26 total entries
And the winner is...
results powered by Random.org
Entry #9Lisa J.
THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR PLAYING! CONGRATS LISA J.! Enjoy your new apron! I'm emailing you now.