They keep saying that in 2011 “Pie is the new cupcake.” We’ll have to see about that, but for now I’ll add to the hype. Valentines day is just around the corner and if you need something that is 100% guaranteed to put a smile on someone’s face- I have it right here! These little sweetie pies are genuinely adorable. They’re also one of those things that look like tons of work and effort, but in reality they’re pretty quick and easy! So go ahead and impress people with your skills. Or just sit in a dark room and eat them all yourself in one sitting. We won’t tell, I swear. I have tons of variations shown below, as well as some options for fillings so if you really wanted to, you could make these super fast with store bought filling and dough.
Homemade pie dough really is a cinch to whip up though, so if you’re not used to making your own, give it a shot! Start by rolling out your dough on a floured surface. About an 1/8 of an inch works well. Since you’ll be sandwiching two pieces of dough together you don’t want it too thick.
If you’re making pops, you want to keep your hearts small- if they’re too large, the sticks won’t be able to hold them up. A 2-inch heart worked perfectly.
You can use any filling you like, store-bought or homemade. Just keep in mind that these little pie pops are small so you don’t want huge pieces in there. I’m using canned raspberry filling in the picture below. Place 1-2 teaspoons on each cut-out, making sure to keep it at least 1/4-inch away from the edges. Otherwise it will all squeeze out and look messy when you put them together.
If you want to be crazy like me, throw a little chocolate in there too. Nutella-banana pies would be yummy too. I imagined that when making these with no bananas in my house.
A quick homemade apple is fantastic too- you only need one apple! Since these are tiny little pies that don’t bake for very long, grating the apple with a cheese grater works well.
Remember to only fill half of your shapes with filling. Place a lollipop stick right in the middle, about 1/4 inch from the top. If you place it at the bottom that little pie will fall right off. Also, try to have relatively clean hands when handling the sticks or you’ll find your finished sticks will have brown spots where the grease baked in!
Keep a little bowl of water next to you and use it to wet your finger and run it along that open edge.
Do the same for another non-filled cut out and place it right on top of the filled one. Gently press down with your fingers to seal the dough together. Make sure to press it around that stick. take a fork and crimp all around the edges. This is done partially because it helps seal the edges and partially because it’s totally cute.
You have some options for the tops. For my raspberry pies I brushed the tops with melted butter and sprinkled with sanding sugar. I decided to leave the apple pies plain so I could brush a glaze on after baking.
Prick a whole in each pie as well, so that steam can escape and then pop them in the oven. They only bake for about 15-20 minutes and come out looking puffed and golden.
Now..the apple pie. I wanted this one to have a glaze instead, so that can be whipped up while the pies are cooking. Super simple: sugar, butter, milk. These were definitely my favorite.
When the pies are still warm, just spoon it on. It dries so it’s not wet to the touch so you can package these cuties.
It makes them shiny and sweet and utterly adorable. How could I NOT make tags that say “Sweetie PIE” on them?!
And if I make tags, how can I not share them with all of you?? See the end of this post for a free download!
I happened to have little 3″ cellophane bags that were exactly the size for these. Perfect for gifting! They look super cute in a little tin bucket for party favors too.
Now, if you want to enjoy all of the cuteness of Sweetie Pies but without the Pop part, then fear not. Make hand pies! Hand pies are just little pies about the size of your palm. A darling little snacky pie. It’s obviously the same method, just without the stick. I used a 3 1/2 inch cookie cutter and one crust recipe made 6 pies.
The look super cute with a tiny heart placed on top too.
Just stick them in a little cello bag with a ribbon too. Pretty much everything in life is improved with a cello bag and ribbon.
A Sweetie Pie Pie-in-a-Jar is pretty freaking adorable too. I just used a tiny 1″ heart cutter and layered hearts all over the top of the pie.
And since I was doing labels already, I whipped some up for those too! You are going to have the happiest Valentines ever!
Sweetie Pie Pops
Recipe by Our Best Bites
Yields 16-18 2″ Pops, 6 4″ hand pies, or 4 Pie Jars
1 Recipe Pie crust (or store bought pie crust dough)
6″ lollipop sticks (available at craft stores, including Walmart)
small bowl of water
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Course sugar or sprinkles for top
Canned pie filling, or homemade apple below
Cookie Cutters
Apple Pie Filling (combine all ingredients below):
1 medium tart green apple, peeled and grated
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon cold butter, grated
Glaze (Whisk all ingredients until smooth. Add milk until desired consistency is reached):
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1-3 tsp milk
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat if desired.
Roll out pie dough on a floured surface about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out heart shapes (or other shape of your choosing) and place them on your baking sheet. Place about 1-2 tsp of filling on one cut out, keeping it at least 1/4 inch away from the edges. Place 6 inch lollipop stick in center of shape, with the top of the stick near the top of the shape. Wet your finger in a small bowl of water and wet the edge of the pie dough shape. Wet the edges of a 2nd pie dough shape (one without filling) and place on top of the other. Press together gently with your fingers to seal the pieces together. Use a fork to crimp edges, being careful to seal edges around the stick. Poke a fork into top of pie one time so steam can vent. If desired, brush top of pie in melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. (Or leave plain to glaze after)
Bake pies for 15-20 minutes until barely golden brown. Cool for a few minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. If glazing, gently brush or spoon glaze over pies while still warm. Cool completely before packaging. If desired, place in cellophane bags and tie with ribbons and labels.
JUST made these again! Made them last year & they were a huge hit with the hubs so I made them for him again this year. He LOVED the apple so I just made him 12 apple hand pies. Thanks again ladies!
Thank you so much for sharing these. I already bought apples. I can’t wait to do them.
My sister and I made these last night for a birthday party and they were so easy! We did all apple. I think we didn’t put enough glaze on them but served with a side of vanilla ice cream I don’t think anyone will notice. Thanks for the idea ladies.
If i’m making 12 of the pie pops with the homemade dough on your blog, (the butter one) approximatly how much dough do I need to make?
This is a great idea! Have you made a chocolate pie filling for these pops? If so, would you mind sharing?
nevermind! i see where there is a chocolate filling recipe in the comments. thanks for sharing
I am not much of a pie lover but I absolutely love this idea! It’s a nice little bite of pie which I wouldn’t having 🙂 Such a fun idea as a Valentine’s Day gift too! I was checking out this list of goodies that are great gifts to package and send..I found this post and I know a couple of people who would love this! I am definitely going to attempt..thanks for sharing 🙂
I may have missed it, but what temperature do you bake these at?
You want to bake them at the temperature your dough calls for. For our recipe, it’s 375.
Wow! So adorable! My 10 year old son has a goal of being a master chef when he is older. At Christmastime, he received one of those mini pie makers from grandma. So he made some pies and my husband took them to school for his co-workers and students. Now the students have suggested other pie fillings and this is an awesome idea for our lil chef to make Valentine’s pies! He’s going to be so excited! Thanks for the great idea!!!
I’m wanting to make the hand pies this weekend. Could you tell me how much pie filling to put in each? Thanks
It really depends on the size of your pie; just place enough in, but keep it away from the edges enough that you can shut them 🙂
I’m sorry if I didn’t make myself clear. I was going to use a 3 1/2 cookie cutter to make 6 like you 😉 I just want to make sure they all have the same amount of filling. Did I mention how excited I am to make these!!!
I honestly don’t know an exact measurement. Just use a Tablespoon to spoon it on so you can keep track of a good amount and take it from there. Good luck!
This are so preety!! I just saw the picture in “Whole Kitchen” and directly come here to see your adorable sweetie pie!!!
congratulations everything is perfect!, colors, recipe, the picture…
How long in advance can I make these for a party?
They can be frozen for a few months and refrigerated for a couple of days.
I LOVE This! Look out teachers and office folk at Valentine’s Day! 😉
I am having trouble printing out the sweetie pie labels any suggestion?
Hi! this is such an adorable idea. I’m actually going to do this, but instead of hearts, I’m using a half moon cookie shape.
My question is: Instead of the glaze, I want it to be a cake pop pie; a pie pop?
This means I’d have to dip the pie into candy melts or melted chocolate. As long as the pie pops are cooled enough, do you think they’d survive being dipped and then immediately cooled?
Thanks!!
I’m not sure sabeena. You can try it out, but just be really careful because the pies might slip right off the sticks!
First, I LOVE Valentines Day and am happy to see someone else who enjoys it as much as I do! Secondly, why are these the stinkin cutest things of my life?! Seriously ladies, these are adorable…I can’t wait to try them out!!
THEY ARE REALY GOOD I LOOVE THEM THANK YOU FOR SHARING THEM
P.S THIS IS JOSH AGE 10 I LOVE MAKING THEM WITH MY MOM :D!!
THERE SOOOOOOOOO GOOD IM MAKEING MORE!!!!
Thank you thank you thank you! Doing this now as my kids naps 🙂
These are so so good-I made them last week and was blown away at how CUTE nad easy they are! Question-has anyone tried to make these ahead of time and freeze them? And if so, should I freeze them after I bake them or frreeze them raw? I am making 50 apple ones as a baby shower favor.
Thanks! Love this site!
Yes Becky, they freeze perfectly! Get them all ready and then freeze them un-baked. I place them all on a cookie sheet in an even layer and flash freeze, then you can stack them between layers of waxed paper in an airtight container and store in the freezer. You don’t have to thaw before baking either, just pop them in the oven frozen- the baking time is only increased a tiny bit so just keep an eye on them.
Serendipity- freeze unbaked and you can just pop them in the oven straight from the freezer. No need to thaw!
Love this!! I'd like to make them for my kid's party but I wonder… can I make them days ahead and keep them in the freezer? If so, should I freeze them before baking in the oven or baked already?
Thanks for the fun idea! I made these for my little primary class! http://ourlifeslikethat.blogspot.com/2011/02/valentines-day.html
My crust came out a little tough and some of the filling came out of a few (I have a lot to learn about baking!) but overall I think they were cute!
Thanks!
I made these for work…left the stick out and just put the sweetie pie in a cellophane wrapper. They were a hit
Hey ladies! Thank you for inspiring me at the last minute! Mine aren't as lovely as yours, but it was a start! 🙂 (Better than buying Little Debbie snack cakes anyway!)
http://www.amytriedit.com/2011/02/valentines-treats-new-ingredients.html
Sure you could use preserves. I would look for the Smucker's "Simply Fruit" type- and if you can find fresh raspberries this time of year without spending a fortune you could add some of those too- just because jam can be really sweet.
So I really like the rasberry idea… but I cannot find rasberry pie filling :-/
Will Rasberry preserves or jam work?
I'm so excited to make these for everyone at work!
These look amazingly delicious and absolutely darling! Featured them on my blog this week! Have a great weekend!
Blessings to you,
Holly
http://hallelujahsbyholly.blogspot.com/2011/02/favorite-things-friday-my-mamas-sugar.html
Mine didn't stay on the sticks! I am totally bummed 🙁 Did I miss something? I had my trusty Laptop right on the kitchen counter cooking with me and thought I did it perfect but the sticks keep falling out. Help please!
I wonder if it would work with chocolate pudding for the filling.
What great ideas . . . will be tring some of these for my pie-loving sweetie this valentines day!