Sweetie Pie Pops {Plus Hand Pies, Pie Jars, and Printables!}

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!