Cherry Pie Pops, Cherry Hand Pies, and Tiny Cherry Pies

I wish it were cherry season. But alas it's winter and I looked in all the grocery stores. Not a cherry to be found except for Maraschino cherries, sour cherries in a jar and canned cherries. I decided to use canned cherry pie filling but I made my own pie dough. This pie dough is made with all butter. I usually use butter and shortening but shortening isn't very tasty. This pie crust came out flaky and flavorful. If you are pinched for time, you can buy frozen pie crust.

Cherry Pie Pops

Makes 30

double pie crust (see below for recipe)

1 Can Comstock Cherry Pie Filling (or make your own)

red sprinkles, raw sugar

40 cookie sticks or lollipop sticks



Butter Pie Crust

Makes 1 double pie crust

Inspired by Allrecipes 

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (refrigerated)

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup unsalted butter, chilled and diced and frozen

1/2 cup ice water

1. Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter using a pastry blender or two forks until mixture resembles coarse meal.

2. Stir in ice water a little at a time until mixture forms into a ball. Divide into two disks. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.


Cherry Pie Pops

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Put a little water in a dish and set aside. Melt a little bit of butter in a dish and set aside.

2. Roll out dough on lightly floured work surface until 1/8" thick. Use a heart or round 2 " cookie cutter to cut shapes out of the dough. Place half of the shapes onto the baking sheets. Spoon 1-2 tsp. of pie filling in the center of the dough, keeping it away from the edges. Place a cookie or lollipo stick in the center on top of the filling. Make sure the stick is 1/4" from the top of the dough. Using your finger, rub a little water on the edges of the dough and on another cut piece of dough. Place the dough on top of the other dough with the filling. Press gently to seal. Use a fork to crimp the sides sealing especially well near the stick. Prick the top with a fork to vent.

3. Brush pie pops lightly with melted butter. Sprinkle with colored sugar and/or raw sugar. Bake in oven for 15- 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool slightly on baking sheet. Be very careful when transferring to wire rack as pie pops are fragile.

4. Pie pops make great gifts. They can be wrapped in little cellophane bags and tied with ribbon. A variation is the tiny pies. The dough is cut with a round cutter and placed in a mini muffin pan. Cherry filling is put on top of that. Dough is cut into tiny lattice pieces with a ravioli cutter and woven on top of filling. Mini hand pies are the same as the pie pops just without the sticks.