Sweetie Pie Pie Pops

Trust me on this. Nothing revs up the romance like homemade desserts. Sexy lingerie ain't got nothin' on a home baked sweet treat! So I'm here today to play cupid. If you put these Pie Pops in front of your Valentine's Day crush, you will woo them in no time. That's a promise. 

We see so many chocolate dessert recipes for Valentine's Day, but I wanted to make sure your pie lover is covered too. The thing is, when you're baking for two, a whole big pie is just not necessary. I mean, I could probably polish off most of a whole pie in one sitting. It runs in my family -- my dad has won several pie eating contests in his life -- but that is a whole different story. But for those of us who don't participate in pie eating contests, these mini pie pops are the perfect way to celebrate!

I even added little "sweetie pie" paper tags to the lollipop sticks. I simply printed out my message on card stock and used my handy dandy scalloped paper punch to make them look pretty.

If you’re not into baking from scratch you can easily sub in store-bought pie crust and filling, and don’t worry, it will be our little secret (and the pops will still be just as adorable!) For those of you taking the "from scratch" route, my recipe is below! Enjoy, and HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Flaky Pie Crust
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold (or frozen) and cut into 48 small pieces
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
6 - 7 tablespoons ice water

Instructions:
Put flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and combine.  Add the butter and shortening and pulse until mixture resembles coarse peas or cornmeal.  There will still be chunks of butter and that is fine.  Sprinkle the water, one or two tablespoons at a time over the mixture and pulse a couple of times in between each addition of water.  Test the dough by pinching it.  If it holds together it is ready, if not, add some additional water until the mixture begins to clump together.  Remove the dough from the food processor bowl and lightly knead it into two flat disks.  Wrap each disk in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.  Dough can be made and refrigerated up to 3 days ahead of time.

After the dough has chilled, remove it from the refrigerator.  Sprinkle flour onto a clean work surface and, using a rolling pin, gently roll out your dough, lifting the dough from underneath and sprinkling additional flour if the dough begins to stick slightly onto your work surface.

Once the dough reaches 1/4 inch in thickness, use a 2 or 3 inch round biscuit cutter or a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut shapes out of the pie dough.  

Cherry Filling
Ingredients:
5 to 6 cups fresh pitted cherries
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 - 2 teaspoons lemon zest
2/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions:
In a saucepan over medium heat combine all ingredients except for the vanilla extract.  bring to a boil, then reduce heat and continue to simmer for about 15 minutes.  Stir in the vanilla extract, remove from heat and cool before using.

To make your pie pops:
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  Place half the dough circles or hearts onto a parchment lined baking sheet.  Place a 6 inch lollipop stick on top of each circle, pressing gently so it sticks into the dough circle, going about half way up the circle.  Add about a teaspoon of filling to each dough circle or heart and place another dough circle or heart on top.  Use the tines of a fork to carefully crimp together the edges of the dough.  It is important to make sure that your dough it securely closed around the entire circle so that your filling does not leak out.

Egg Wash
Ingredients:
1 large egg
1 tablespoon milk or heavy cream

Instructions:
Beat egg and milk (or cream) until combined and brush on the top of each pie pop.

Bake pie pops in oven for 10 - 12 minutes.  Crust should look golden brown.  Remove from oven and cool completely, then decorate with personalized tags, like the “Sweetie Pie” ones I made, ribbon or fabric.