August 2, 2012

Blueberry Pie Cookies

Blueberry Pie Cookies


Camping is one of my favorite summer activities.  Car camping, boat camping, backpacking...I love it all, and one of my favorite things to do after I arrive at the campsite is to relax with a good book and something tasty.  Most of the time, these are store-bought cookies or crackers.  Sometimes, they are tasty homemade pastries.  Recently, I've been dreaming of bringing along the ultimate summer baked good (pie, of course).

This camping trip could be improved with pie...

Unfortunately, pie is not very easy to transport when you're boating or hiking to your camp, and a pie squished into a tupperware container will likely become soggy.  So, for a recent hiking/boating/camping trip, I decided to test out a possible solution: pie cookies.

Pie cookies are just pie filling sandwiched between two circles of pie crust.  My hope was that they would be easy to pack, and easy to eat while enjoying the wilderness.

Blueberry Pie Cookies


While planning this recipe, my biggest concern was the pie filling/pie crust ratio.  I knew that these were going to be very crust-heavy pies, and as delicious as pie crust is in a full pie, I wasn't sure how good it would taste in these cookies.  In an attempt to remedy this, I used a bit more sugar than usual in the pie crust, and a whole-wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose flour.  I knew, from my experiment with different flours, that I enjoyed the taste of whole-wheat pastry flour a bit more than all-purpose.  During that experiment, I also learned that the whole-wheat pastry flour was going to absorb water less well than all-purpose flour.  I was a little concerned that this might make the crust a little difficult to roll out, but decided to throw caution to the wind and try it anyway!

Blueberry Pie Cookies


The crust was difficult to roll out.  Luckily, I was just cutting circles out of the dough and not using it for a full pie, so this did not ruin the crust.  I would not use whole wheat pastry flour in a full-sized pie - I'm pretty sure that would be a huge headache.

I think the extra sugar and tastier flour paid off - these were very yummy little cookies.  I was not disappointed in the amount of filling, and quickly gained back all the calories I lost hiking and kayaking by gobbling these down.

Blueberry Pie Cookies
The pie cookies survived being stuffed in a backpack and thrown in the bottom of a boat.  Although they were a little squished and stuck together, the filling was juicy, and the crust was flaky (and not soggy) - which means they were perfect in my opinion.


Blueberry Pie Cookies
Makes approximately 32 3-inch pie cookies.

Ingredients for Pie Crust
2 ½ cups flour (whole wheat pastry or all-purpose)
6 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 ½ sticks cold unsalted butter
~½ cup ice water

Ingredients for Filling
2 ½ cups blueberries
½ cup sugar (my blueberries were a little sour, lower this if yours are riper)
juice and zest from ½ lemon
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Method
  1. Mix the flour, sugar, and salt together with a fork.
  2. Cube the butter and "cut" it into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter until there are no butter bits that are bigger than a pea.  Make sure you don't go smaller than this, however, since you'll start to lose flakiness if the butter is too small.
  3. Add the ice water, a tablespoon or two at a time and use a fork to wet the flour/butter mixture. 
  4. Keep adding until the dough just starts to hold together.  You don't want the dough too wet, and you don't want to mix in the water too much.  I find it useful to just use my hands to mix at this point.
  5. Divide the dough in two, cover each half with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for a couple hours at least (overnight is best).  This is especially important with the whole wheat pastry flour since it makes the dough a little easier to work with.
  6. Toss the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice and zest, butter, and cornstarch in a medium bowl.  Set aside.
  7. Preheat your oven to 350° F.
  8. Line the bottom of a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  9. Remove one of the covered dough halves from the refrigerator.  Divide this in half and roll out on a floured board.
  10. Using a 3-inch round cutter, cut eight circles out of the pie dough.  Place these on the parchment paper, evenly spaced.
  11. Spoon a small amount (5-6 blueberries and a little sauce) into the center or each pie circle.
  12. Cut eight more circles out of the pie dough (you may have to gather the scraps and re-roll it out).  Place each circle on top of the blueberry-topped bottom circles.  Press down the edges with something thin (the top of a paintbrush or pen would work).  Brush with egg yolk and sprinkle with sugar.  Cut some small slits in the top.
  13. Bake for 10-14 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly.  Cool on a wire rack.  Repeat in three more batches with the rest of the pie crust and filling.

Update - I'd previously said I'd used a 4.5" cutter. Turns out it was 3".

30 comments:

  1. Laura I have decided you need to mail me baked goods in Berkeley more often.

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  2. I will accept pie cookies.

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  3. Perfect in my opinion also!!!!!!!!

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  4. Can't wait to make these gorgeous little pie cookies. Awesome!

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  5. adorable! wondering how you gave them the cute scalloped edge with the inside scallop? Besides a scalloped edge cookie cutter... looks like you punched it with something??

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    1. Thanks! Yes, I used a scalloped edge cookie cutter and then used the top of a paintbrush (one that I use for baking, not painting) to press the two circles together, creating an inner scalloped edge.

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  6. I have always believed that all good things are products of necessity. Just like what you have here, I adore the pie in cookie form! Very creative. I must say this is a winning treat! Not a camping fan but having a pie (in cookie form) in my handbag is a great idea, I wouldn't want a soggy blob- pie in my bag...definitely not!
    Anyhoo, we have been keeping an eye out for unique and interesting bloggers with phenomenal photography skills, and yours caught our attention! We have just recently launched a food photo submission gallery http://www.yumgoggle.com/gallery/ that allows you to showcase all your great work and share it with all of our visitors. We’d be proud to have your work as part of our growing collection to continue to have a larger reach and further inspire all fellow food lovers out there!

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  7. These look absolutely beautiful!

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  8. I just saw these on pinterest and had to drop by and say how I thought these were amazing! I have seen miniature pies before but these are the cutest.

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  9. I made these tonight using a 2-crust frozen piecrust from Trader Joe's. They are delightful! I added an extra tablespoon of cornstarch and cut the sugar a bit as my berries are very ripe. I used small berries and was able to heap more in each "cookie". I skipped the egg wash on top and just sprinkled sugar. they took about 15 min to bake and made only 15 cookies. had some berry mix left over but will heat it a bit next time i make french toast or pancakes and it will be a great syrup:>). Thank you so much for inventing these. And by the way, I usually use whole wheat flour when I make pies and it works fine...a tad harder to handle but not bad. It's my standard but I needed to do these in a hurry so cheated and tried the Trader Joe brand with white flour. I am taking most of them on a kayak trip tomorrow! Can hardly wait to share them with my gourmet-cook friend on the trip! Even my husband liked them and he is not a pie guy at all.:>)-- Ann

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    1. I'm glad you like them! I'm also glad to hear that you use whole wheat flour in your regular pies - I actually like the flavor of whole wheat and would like to give it a try in a full-size pie. I'm curious as to why you only got 15 cookies - do you happen to know what size cutter you used? Finally, have fun on your kayak trip!

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    2. I used the top of my metal one-cup measuring cup to cut the rounds. It seemed like it's about 4 1/2 inches across...unless i misread the recipe, I thought that was the size you used. But that is what I used. I am thinking maybe you used a smaller size, as they held way more than 5 or 6 berries. I am going to try another batch tomorrow using your whole wheat recipe and maybe a smaller cutter. I don't think my usual recipe would hold together well enough as I usually use an canola oil vs butter...but I think the butter likely will work better for this. Thanks again. And my friend loved them too! We savored them on our kayaks in the shade next to a waterfall! -- Ann

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    3. You're right! My cutter was 3" - I looked at the Amazon page and just figured since I used the largest cutter it was 4.5". Thanks for the catch! I'll update the recipe.

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  10. I was wondering if its fine to use premade dough? what would i need to do ?

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    1. I think it would be fine to use premade dough, although I haven't tried it myself. The dough recipe I provided is the same I'd use for one pie (with a top and bottom crust), so that's probably how much of the premade pie you'd want. Let me know how it goes!

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  11. ok... I do like these even better with the whole wheat crust. I just made a half batch to use up the leftover berry mix from my recent batch again made with a purchased crust. The whole wheat crust recipe is the best though the store crust is good too. But for some reason these take about 20 min to bake in my oven with either type of crust. Since this is the third batch I have made, you can tell I love making these and my family loves eating them. May try them with blackberries as soon as our blueberry bushes peter out for the season:>). -- ann

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  12. I love these! Wondering if I could get your permission to feature them on my blog. Of course I would give you full credit and link back to you. Let me know. thanks!
    Jessica

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    1. Of course! I'd be honored!

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    2. Thanks! :) http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/2012/08/blueberry-pie-cookies.html

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  13. These look scrumptious! Will be making them soon. Thanks.

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  14. AnonymousJuly 29, 2013

    I am making these right now- sampled a bit of raw pie dough (you know you gotsa good one when you can eat it raw) needless to say I'm super excited!!!

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  15. These look and sound amazing!!!

    My only problem is I can't get sticks of butter in the UK :(
    Is there a different measurement that could help me please as I NEED to make these :)

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    1. In the USA, butter is usually packaged and sold in one pound units (4 sticks per pound). So one stick of butter equals 1/2 cup or 1/4 pound. Here is a web site that converts US and British kitchen units. http://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/cooking/ I hope this helps you out. Now I'm going to try this recipe out too.

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  16. Carol SmithAugust 06, 2013

    I have been making these for years at least 27 yrs since my kids were little. I make my own pie crust and my own pie fillings. I can them so they can be used anytime. I use my "Pampered Chef" 2 1/2 " cut-n-seal , it sure makes life easier. You use it to cut the 2 round circles, put your pie filling on one of the circles and then top with the other circle. Now put your cut-n-seal back over the stacked circles and press. Too cute!

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  17. I used frozen blueberries and ground flax seeds instead of cornstarch, they turned out great

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  18. You might like whole spelt flour for whole pies. It rolls much easier then whole wheat, even works well with an oil crust. This recipe looks great!

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  19. I was reading, and Christmas is a-comin'. Hm. Round cookie-pies. Tree ornaments. I'm a fan of gel coloring; it dissolves in water and you can 'paint' with it. I am considering monkeying with this and canned pie filling, to end up with a plate of 'ornaments' of different colors and flavors. I love strange things at Christmas, and for all the complaints I get while baking (so what if it's 4 AM--what else do I have to do at 4 AM?) and the amount I make, I notice there isn't anything left *after* Christmas--and sometimes before.

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