How to Make Blueberry Mini Pies from Scratch

Blueberry Mini Pies are the epitome of summer. Ripe, juicy blueberries fill delicious buttery dough for the perfect hand-held pie. Mini blueberry pies are perfect for lunch bags, afternoon treats, beach day picnics, and they are small enough for little hands. Mini blueberry pies or mini cherry pies are also great for all of the red, white and blue holidays. 

One of my favorite things about these pies is that they are hand held. No need for utensils, plates or clean-up, which in my opinion is one of the best things about these hand pies.

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Blueberry Mini Pies

These simple hand held pies are one of our favorite spring and summer treats. They are not hard to make, but they do require just a bit of planning.

Blueberries are coming in now and it’s a great time to bake a batch of these mini pies. Because they tend to disappear so quickly, I often make a double batch to freeze some of them for later when I want a sweet treat but I don’t have time to make them.

Homemade pies are better than anything you’ll get in the store. They are bursting with fresh blueberry goodness and the crust is so buttery and delicious that store-bought could never come close to tasting this good.

How to make mini pies

These individual berry pies can be made in stages and I often do this because of time constraints.

The first step is making the dough and letting it rest in the fridge. This can be done a day ahead of time and is a great task to do the day before if you need to break it up. You can make the dough up to two days in advance if needed.

Next is making the filling. Cook the blueberries with sugar until the berries begin to burst. Add a bit of lemon zest and break up any remaining whole berries with a potato masher.

This is also something you could do ahead of time. The filling needs to be completely cooled before assembling pies. I often make the filling the night before and stick it in the fridge overnight.

Then, it’s assembly time. Roll out the dough, cut the dough out using square cutters, then add blueberry filling, top and seal, then bake.

I like to sprinkle mine with coarse sugar before baking to give them a bit of sparkle!

Mini blueberry pies are the perfect treat

Summertime is all about barbecues/cookouts, backyard parties, etc. These blueberry mini pies are perfect for picnics and outdoor parties. You can set a plate of them out for guests and enjoy your own party!

Disclaimer: I have yet to master this. I am one of those people that is in the kitchen for most of it; making sure guests are happy, everyone is eating, everyone has a drink, etc.

I usually end up missing the majority of it because I’m so preoccupied with making sure everyone else has a good time. If you are master of your own party:  feel free to email me tips on how I too, can actually be a guest at my own party.

While blueberry happens to be my personal favorite, you can swap out any berry (strawberry, raspberry, blackberry) and these will be fantastic. If none of those are your jam (see what I did there), you could substitute your favorite fruit filling.

Mini blueberry pie recipe

Making pie crust is not my favorite thing. I live in a very warm and humid climate, neither of which mesh well with pastry. That being said, this pat in pie dough is so simple. It is much easier to work with than regular pie crust and more forgiving.

The filling comes together really quickly and easily as well. Because, here’s the thing – making a delicious treat shouldn’t be a chore and if it is, how often are you going to actually do it?

I can tell you from personal experience, if I feel like I’ve run a marathon (not that I know what that actually feels like) after making a dessert, it will be a one time experience.

These blueberry mini pies are also a great way to get kids in the kitchen. Easy, simple and so delicious, these mini blueberry pies are guaranteed to be a hit.

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More summer recipes we love

• Summer Grain Salad
• Fresh Cherry Crisp
• Cherry Coconut Rum Slushies
• Citrus Sunshine Cooler (kid-friendly)
• Grilled Lemon Herb Shrimp

Yield: 24

Blueberry Mini Pies

Print

Hand held mini blueberry pies are an easy and delicious summer treat.

Prep Time 4 hours

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 5 hours

Ingredients

For the Filling

• 4 cups blueberries
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 tbsp. water
• 3 tbsp. cornstarch
• 1 tbsp. lemon zest, freshly grated
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/4 tsp. salt

For the crust

• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, 470 grams
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest, fresh
• 12 ounces unsalted butter, very cold and cut into small pieces
• 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 3/4 to 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt

For the Egg Wash

• 1 egg , beaten with 1 tablespoon water.

Instructions

Make the dough

1. Whisk together flour, zest, sugar and salt in the bottom of a large bowl.
2. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour until the biggest pieces of butter are the size of tiny peas.
3. Gently stir in 3/4 cup buttermilk with a rubber spatula, mixing it until a bit of a mass forms, then knead it two or three times to form a ball.
4. If it doesn’t come together, add remaining 1/4 cup buttermilk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it does, then gently knead again. (I had to add all of the remaining 1/4 cup)
5. Divide dough in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and flatten into a disc. Chill in fridge for at least an hour or up to two days.

Make the filling

1. Taste a few blueberries: If they are sweet, use closer to 1/2 cup sugar. If they are not, you may need up to 3/4 cup of sugar.
2. Combine the blueberries with the sugar in a medium saucepan. Simmer on low heat until sugar has melted and berries begin to burst. Stir occasionally. This will take about 5 - 7 minutes.
3. Combine cornstarch and water in a (very) small bowl. Once blueberries have begun to burst and sugar is melted, smash any remaining berries to a pulp and add the cornstarch mixture to the pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until it has thickened.
4. Add the lemon zest, butter and salt, cook for another 30 - 45 seconds. Remove from heat and cool completely.

Assembly Line

1. Preheat oven to 400°F and line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Generously flour the counter top, then unwrap one of your disks of dough. Gently begin rolling it out, starting from the center and pushing outward. The dough will be pretty firm when you begin, so be patient. (it will warm quickly, so not too patient!)
3. Keep rolling from the center out, turning the dough as you go, until it is about 1/8 inch thick. If the butter in the dough begins to get too warm and it starts to stick to the pin or gets goopy, slide it onto a baking sheet and put it in the freezer for a few minutes to firm up again.
4. Once dough is rolled out, cut out with a 2 1/2 - 3 inch cutter (whatever shape you have) or use a knife and cut into squares.
5. Prepare egg wash, get out the pastry brush & set aside.
6. Lightly brush half of your circles or squares with the egg wash, taking care to get the edges, cut vents in the center of the other half of your circles/squares.
7. Place 1 rounded teaspoon of filling in the center of the egg washed halves and top with the vented pieces. (don't overfill!) Seal with your fingertips or press with a fork along the edges.
8. Brush with the egg wash on top and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Chill in refrigerator before baking if dough begins to get mushy. Repeat with remaining disk of dough, filling, etc.
9. Place on baking sheet 1 - 2 inches apart and bake for 15 - 18 minutes until golden and puffed.
10. Cool on wire rack.

Notes

Cook time includes 2 - 3 hours resting time for dough. Active time is approximately 45 - 60 minutes

If you want to sprinkle the top with sugar, you will also need sanding sugar or any coarse sugar like demerara.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

24
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 208Saturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 39mgSodium: 170mgCarbohydrates: 21gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 2g

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Thanks for stopping by! Have a delicious day 🙂

Originally published: 7/2/14

Most recent update: 4/21/20