Finger pies for WTSIM
I don’t remember when I started but I’m not a big breakfast eater anymore. Usually my breakfast consists of milk, juice and banana during the weekdays, days which I don’t want to think “big” in the morning. Weekends are different. These are the days I could plan ahead, a day that I could be a little creative with my or actually, my family’s breakfast. All my breakfast choices that I’ve written in this blog are mostly comfort foods, foods such as pancakes, waffles, sticky buns, or quick breads. I love those and fortunately my family members feel the same too.
This next recipe that I’m going to share is something that I’ve never thought would be good for breakfast item. But actually it fitted in the theme quite nicely. The recipe is called finger pies, which uses pie crust as the skin that would be cut into small rounds and filled with preserves and chocolate chips. The end result looked similarly like empanadas. Later it would be rolled in confectioners’ sugar, just like cookies! I like the size of the pies especially, that way I could nibble on it while reading my comics in Sunday morning.
The recipe suggested that this type of pie is something that you could do with your kids. The size of the pie and simple ingredients really help. I enlisted my son to help me scatter the chocolate chips after I dropped the preserves in the pastry. It was really fun activity! Because this was a success, I’m sending this for Waiter There Is Something In My… that’s hosted by Johanna from The Passionate Cook. The theme for April is breakfast favorite. It has become a new favorite in my family, so hopefully it’ll be one for you too.
Now that I knew how to make this in a snap, I want to try it with different preserves. I was thinking of making pineapple preserves just like the one I usually use to make Pineapple cookies (Nanas tart) and fill the pie with that. This pie needs a preserves that’s thick and substantial. Time to go get the pineapples! Yay…
Little Preserves and Chocolate Finger Pies
Tender Cream Cheese Pastry
Yields 1 single crust, 9-inch standard pie
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces 1/3-less fat cream cheese, softened
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Combine the butter, cream cheese, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater attachment. Blend for 30 to 45 seconds on medium-low speed. Stop once or twice, if necessary, to scrape the build-up from the beater. Stopping the machine before each addition, first add the confectioners’ sugar and 1/2 cup of the flour. With the mixer on low, blend until the flour is incorporated. Add another 1/2 cup of the flour and blend. Add the remaining flour. When all of the flour has been added and the dough starts to ball up around the beater, stop the machine. Remove the bowl and scarpe the dough onto a lightly floured work surface.
Gently knead 2 or 3 times. Divide the dough into 2 pieces of the same size. Knead each piece into a ball, then flatten it into a disk about 3/4 inch thick. Wrap the disk in plastic and refrigerated for at least an hour, preferable longer, until firm enough to roll but not too solid.
Filling
Raspberry, strawberry, or other fruit preserves
Handful of semisweet chocolate chips
Garnish
Confectioners’ sugar
On a lightly floured work area, roll the dough slightly less than 1/8 inch thick with a floured rolling pin. Using a 3 1/2-inch round cutter, cut the pastry into circles. Remove the scraps, leaving the rounds in place.
Spoon about 2 teaspoons of the preserves into the center of each circle. Scatter a few chocolate chips around the preserves. Moisten the entire edge of the pastry with a wet fingertip or pastry brush, then fold the circle in half and press the edge together to seal. Roll the edge up slightly, forming a sort of rope edge. As you work, transfer each pie to the prepared baking sheet, leaving a little room between them. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 oF.
Using a paring knife, poke 1 or 2 small steam vents in the top of each pie. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes.
Transfer the hot pies to a wire rack. As soon as they’re cool enough to handle, put some confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl. Roll each pie in the confectioners’ sugar, coating it heavily, and return it to the rack. Serve warm or let cool to room temperature before serving.
Source: adapted from Pie by Ken Haedrich
yummy yum yum! my gran used to make these, she always put cider in the pastry… i love it when the jam inside sort of caramelised and you’re left with bits sticking in your teeth – at least that’s what my nan’s used to do! thanks for treating us to something sweet for WTSIM!
i’ve seen recipe using cider in the pastry, any which way cider/sour cream/cream cheese adds tangs to the pastry which pairs nicely with sweet filling. yeah, i had those caramelized preserves oozing out from the finger pies..they’re sticky delicious!
Comment by johanna — April 30, 2008 @ 2:52 am
Very cool! I saw one of these recipes on tv somewhere but they made it with nutella and banana inside and that really got me going. Anything that is like a mini sounds great in my book.
oohh…banana and nutella sound great! mini sized pies mean you could eat them right away and still have room for something else!
Comment by Amanda — April 30, 2008 @ 7:45 am
My homemade preserve would be perfect for this luscious treat! Yummy!
i agree…any homemade preserve would be good, i’m thinking cherry preserves…
Comment by Pixie — April 30, 2008 @ 8:40 am
No wonder these are favorites, Liz. Seriously – one just can’t go wrong with pastry, chocolate and preserves! And you’ve closed them so beautifully.
thanks Pat…these would be lovely for tea too.
Comment by Patricia Scarpin — April 30, 2008 @ 9:04 am
I’ve never tried pastry shell with cream cheese mixed in! Sounds sinful
.
I am going to bake these treats tonight. I’ll experiment a little and substitute peanut butter and jelly as filling!
hope they’re turn out great as well!
Comment by lalaine — April 30, 2008 @ 3:46 pm
I’ve never heard of finger pies, but they do look delicious. How the heck did you get such a perfect-looking rope edge. It’s simply perfect!
heck, i didn’t even know i had perfect rope until i saw the picture!
finger pies is just name that the author came up with since this recipe was to be made with kids.
Comment by RecipeGirl — April 30, 2008 @ 9:29 pm
OMG, these look delicious
You need to do a hand-pie tutorial, because my hand-pies don’t ever look so pretty!
i’m embarrased to do a tutorial…of all the pies, only a few turn out that great. but really, practice makes perfect!
Comment by Mari — May 1, 2008 @ 6:28 am
My favorite as a child was always apricot jam, but your filling looks just delicious.
i do love apricot jam too, but strawberry preserve was what in my fridge at the time
Comment by Nina — May 1, 2008 @ 12:08 pm
Interesting filling!
is it? it really meant to win the kids’ hearts.
Comment by retno — May 1, 2008 @ 1:12 pm
These look lovely Eliza! I love to indulge in breakfast foods like these, so comforting.
come to my house!
Comment by Noble Pig — May 1, 2008 @ 3:55 pm
Cakep bangetttt…liz…aku pengen bikin pastry sendiri…kapan bisanya yahhh…hiks hiks, pengen aku sumpel chocolate aja ga pake selai tapi hehe
btw,
You’re invited to my chinese take-out party, check out the details in my blogpost:
http://mochachocolatarita.blogspot.com/
Hope you’ll play along
Looking forward to your take on chinese take-out _
this one is easy, trust me…hehe. iya, alternatif lain disumpel coklat semua, lupain preserves nya
aku liat deh ya invitation nya…
Comment by rita — May 2, 2008 @ 2:07 am
Ohhh these looked like mini curry puffs!! Looks good!
they are, instead of savory this one is sweet!
Comment by Mrs Ergül — May 2, 2008 @ 7:29 am
They look so good! I bet they are really good fresh out of the oven when the filling has cooled just enough to eat and enjoy. Yummy!
they did taste the best when warm. i couldn’t wait to make them again when i have lots of time.
Comment by Chuck — May 3, 2008 @ 12:45 am
Hihihi…bentuknya dibikin kayak pastel
Wah, ini sih bakal jadi favorit anakku, soalnya mereka suka sama yg manis2.
. Aku pake emulsifer supaya menghemat lamanya waktu ngocok. Bisa jebol deh mixerku kalo disuruh ngocok lama2. Udah pernah jebol 2 kali soalnya…hehehe.
El, aku dapet emulsifernya beli lewat online. Kalo di spm tempatku sih mana ada yg kayak gituan
bener tuh, aku udah tebak2 sebelum bikin.
Comment by Sheila — May 3, 2008 @ 6:00 pm
wow…those look amazing! i bet they melt in your mouth!!
they’re s0 tender, you wouldn’t want to eat just one
Comment by missy — May 4, 2008 @ 9:59 pm
This is so tempting, esp when I can take a few with my fingers
i know you’d like this, small and handy!
Comment by tigerfish — May 6, 2008 @ 2:04 am