Here is one for all you arts and craftsy minded people out there: making mini-pies in jam jar lids. They are the perfect size, are oven safe and if you buy the pretty colored ones, are even great for presenting the little pies. The bottoms come off the Mason-jar style, so it’s also super easy to pop the pie out for those 1-2 bites. In theory, they are reusable, but because they are so cheap, who cares if one or two go missing!
Ingredients (for about 18 pies)
for the crust
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/4 cup) cold butter, cut into cubes
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk
for the blueberry filling
1 cups fresh or frozen wild blueberries*
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
a pinch of salt
1 tablespoon corn starch
for the apple filling
2 baking apples, peeled cored and cut to 1/4 inch dice (yes, very small)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
a pinch of salt
1 tablespoon corn starch
You will also need 18 jar lids and rings with removable bottoms, such all Ball, and a 4 inch biscuit cutter.
Directions
In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, sugar and salt. Add the cold butter and pulse until only pea sized lumps remain in your mixture. In a small bowl, beat the egg with the milk. Add the mixture all at once to the dry ingredients and pulse until moisture is introduced to all of the flour mixture. Lightly dust a clean surface with flour and knead the dough until it starts to hold together. Flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
In the meantime, prepare your fillings. In each case, combine all the ingredients in small bowls, tossing to combine. The apple one will produce quite a bit of liquid, but that is ok.
Preheat oven to 350F. Roll out the dough to approximately 1/4 inch or less. Using your biscuit cutter, cut out as many rounds as you can. You might not get 18 (I got 16 this time), but best you can. Spray the jam lids and rings (assembled) with baking spray and nestle a pie round in each, pushing the dough into the corners so it come at least all the way up the sides (it’s ok if it a little higher as the dough will shrink while baking). Dock each with a fork and place all of them on a rimmed baking sheet. Fill each with fillings (I made half with each) all the way to the rim. It doesn’t take much; just 3-4 tablespoons per tartlet.
Bake for 28-30 minutes. Let cool on wire racks, in the lids, for a minimum of 15 minutes before serving.
* if you can’t find fresh wild ones — the really small berries — use frozen as the cultivated blueberries are bigger and don’t fit well into the small lids.
