Sweet Pie Pops - 2 Ways

As mentioned in my previous post, I also made sweet versions of these adorable little pie pops. Again, great hot or cold - try experimenting with your favourite pie filling!

Ingredients:

For the pastry:
200g plain flour

Pinch of salt

110g butter, cubed

2-3 tbsp very cold water

For the black cherry filling:

1 can of black cherry pie filling

For the nutty filling:

100g chopped mixed nuts

50g white chocolate, chopped

1 egg, beaten

16 wooden lolly sticks

First, make the pastry by tipping the flour into a large bowl with 1 tsp salt. Add the butter and rub into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs.
Slowly add in the cold water, stirring with your hand, until the pastry just comes together. Tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead together into a ball. Cover and put in the fridge while you make your fillings.

The black cherry filling speaks for itself – straight from the tin.

To make the nutty filling, melt the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Once melted, stir in the chopped nuts until well combined.

Now you have your fillings made, you can start to assemble the pie pops.
Line your baking tray(s) with greaseproof paper and pre-heat your oven to 180c.

Roll your pastry out onto a lightly floured surface, to the thickness of a £1 coin. Use a round cookie cutter, approx. 2-2.5” in diameter, to cut out an even number of circles, re-rolling any off-cuts. You should get about 32 rounds out of it, which is enough to make 16 pies, so 8 of each filling if you are making both. If you don’t get that many out of it, just make sure you have an even number of rounds as you’ll need two to make each pie. 

Put half of the rounds to one side as these will be your lids, and space the remaining rounds out on the tray(s). Brush the edges with egg, and place a lolly stick about an inch into the round, pushing into the pastry slightly.

Put a teaspoon of your filling into the centre of each pastry round (with the cherry filling, pick out the biggest cherries from the tin with a little juice) and place a pastry lid on top. Next, using the end of a spare lolly stick, or a fork, crimp around the edges of the pie to seal it, making sure to seal well around the lolly stick.

Give all the pies a good egg wash, poking small holes in the top of the cherry ones.
Bake in your pre-heated oven for 12-15 minutes, until the pastry is crispy and golden. Leave to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before removing from the greaseproof paper and placing on a wire rack to finish cooling.