Mini blueberry pies
THESE ARE SO CUTE I CAN’T DEAL.
They’re vegan, can be gluten free, and only have 5 ingredients.
Recipe, makes 4 mini ones;
THE PASTRY
2 tbsp smooth cashew butter
2 heaped tbsp flour + 1 tsp
1 tbsp sugar
Splash of water
THE BLUEBERRY FILLING
1 1/2 cups blueberries
1 heaped tbsp sugar
1 tbsp chia seeds
Method
If you’re using a cupcake tin that isn’t non-stick, line it with butter, and a small sheet of parchment if you want to.
Add your cashew butter and plain flour to a mixing bowl, and rub the cashew butter into the flour with your hands.
After a couple of minutes, you should have a mixture that resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Add your sugar & mix through, then add a splash of cold water and bring the dough together with your hands. You should have a dough that comes together quite easily - it can’t be too crumbly, but you dont want it to be as easy to work with as a pasta dough would be.
Put the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a rectangle with your hands.
Preheat your oven to 170°C.
Begin to roll the dough, but only roll in one direction - you can move the dough about, but don’t roll back and forth like you would with a bread dough.
Continue to roll the dough, moving it at right angles and adding flour where needed. Roll until your dough is about 1/2cm thick.
Cut your dough into 4 circles, just bigger than the circumference of the muffin cases, then gently push the pastry down into the cupcake case, pressing down into the corners, and pushing together any bits that split.
Prick the base of the circles with a fork, then bake for 12 minutes, until they begin to go golden brown.
In the meantime, add your blueberries, chia seeds and sugar to a microwave safe bowl.
Microwave for about 2 minutes, or until the mixture starts to bubble - keep a careful eye on it, so it doesn’t boil over.
Remove from the microwave, stir, then set aside to thicken.
Whilst your pie crusts continue cooking, roll out any remaining dough into a long rectangle, a couple of mm thin, then slice into 0.25cm slices - these will form the lattice.
Once your crusts are done, add 1 tbsp your blueberry mix to each crust, then make a lattice structure on the top with your slices of pastry.
Bake again for around 10 minutes, or until the lattice has started to brown, and the blueberries are looking caramelised.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool for at least 10 minutes.
Dust with icing sugar and serve as they are, or with cream or custard.
Notes + Variations:
You could also fill these with pre-made jam, or swap the blueberries for any other berry.
