Pi Day Pie Recipe

Sydney LaPine and Clara Hopkins|April 16, 2018

National Pi Day might be over, but our love of pies will go on forever! For a late celebration, what better way to than making some mini pies. These pies are as easy as 3.14, but be warned; they might increase your diameter a little bit. Here you’ll learn to make two bite-sized pie recipes: one deliciously chocolatey and the other classic and tart.

Mini Chocolate Cream Pies

Makes 24 mini pies. Total making time: 2 hours (+2 hours chill time).

Ingredients:

Cookie Cups

1 1/2 of all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling

4. 2 oz packet of instant chocolate mousse mix
1 cup of milk
Chocolate sprinkles

How to:

– Add all of the cookie cup ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix until dough forms

– Form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour

– While the dough is chilling, prepare the mousse by following the instructions on the package, usually just add milk and whip, then refrigerate until ready for use

– Heat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray

– Take a section of the dough out of the fridge and roll it out, it’s helpful to sandwich it in plastic wrap to keep the rolling pin from sticking

– Use something round (we used a small glass cup) to cut-out circles

– Then carefully press the circle of dough into the bottom of a mini muffin tin cup, make sure that the circles are big enough that the dough comes up the side of the pan

– Repeat until all the dough is used up and then bake for about 8 minutes

– Let the cups completely cool in the pan and then use a knife to pop them out

– Transfer the chocolate mousse to a piping bag and pipe mousse into each cup

– Top with sprinkles and enjoy! Chill any remaining pies.

Mini Apple Pies

Makes 12 pies. Total making time: 1 hour 15 minutes.

Ingredients:

2-count packages of Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts
2 cans of pie filling, any variety
1 egg, whisked

How to:

– Preheat the oven to 350. Grease 12 muffin cups with cooking spray.

– Roll out a single pie crust on a flat surface. Using a cookie cutter or lid, cut out as many 4-inch circles in the dough as possible.

– Press each dough circle into the muffin tin cups.

– Fill each cup until nearly full, about 1/4 cup, with pie filling.

– Use the remaining dough to make the strips for the pietop. Use a knife or a pizza cutter to cut thin strps in the dough, weaving them together on the top of the pies.

– Use a pastry brush to brush the tops of each pie with whisked egg.

– (optional) Sprinkle fine sugar lightly on top.

– Bake for 30-40 minutes, until lightly golden and the filling begins to bubble.

– Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 15 minutes, and then enjoy! To save them for later, cover and store in the fridge.

Fun facts about pi day:

-Pi is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter

– It was first used by William Jones in 1706

-π is the greek letter “p” which was chosen for “perimeter (of a circle)”

– Has over 1 trillion digits past its decimal

-In 2015, Rajveer Meena from India set the world record for most digits of pi memorized (70,000) and it took 10 hours to recite

Recipes:

Mini Apple Pies