My second favorite flavor, behind chocolate (of course) is Cherry and my favorite pie - perfect for Pi Day!
The Back Story
Pi Day is March 14, 2024. I almost missed the pie baking opportunity. I'd planned a bread and a cake, then duh! I looked at the calendar and pivoted. Looking at my baking ingredients, I saw that I have a large bag of King Arthur Baking Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour. I also saw that a can of cherry pie filling snuck into my cabinet. Perfect!
Off to bake...
Ingredients
- 115 g (1 stick) Kerrygold Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 85 g Philadelphia Cream Cheese, room temperature
- 227 g King Arthur Baking Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour
- 1/8 g (pinch) Diamond Kosher Salt
- (1) 20-21 oz can of your favorite cherry pie filling (next time I might try making my own)
Used nonstick cooking spray to prepare a 12-cup muffin pan - regular not the mini muffin pan. These would be good with a dollop of whipped cream if you like.
Directions
- Preheat oven to 45o F / 230 C
- Spray the the 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray - not the baking spray with flour
- Mix together butter, cream cheese, flour, and salt to form a ball. I used a 14-cup food processor and pulsed it a few times until it started to come together in large sections then pulled it out and formed the ball with my hands. It doesn't take a lot, just a minute or two.
- Divide the dough into 12 equal(-ish) parts. I weighed my ball of dough then divided by 12 to determine how big each part should be. You don't have to weigh yours. Cut into fours, then threes and you've got your 12.
- Press the dough sections into your muffin tin bottom and up the sides.
- Divide the pie filling evenly between the crusts.
- Bake until the crust is golden brown, about 14-16 minutes depending on your oven. I recommend that you start checking around 12 minutes.
- Cool and serve.
The Result
In a word...YUMMY! I had to stop myself from eating them all before taking the pictures for this post. I shared them with a friend with a gluten allergy and they agreed - yummy all around.
If you bake gluten-free regularly, you may be wondering where is the Xantham Gum. It is not needed in this recipe because the flour already has it. I'm going to be honest, I am new to gluten-free baking and started because of a friend who has developed a gluten allergy. From what I've read, Xanthum Gum not only used in gluten-free baking but also in ice cream. See for yourself in this Guide to Xathan Gum.
Will I Make It Again
Definitely! I might even squeeze in a second batch on Pi Day itself since I've already given away half of them.
You might also like: Mini Peach Pies
