Lots of Love Cherry Pies

Name: Lots of Love Cherry Pies
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 1 dozen.
Ingredients: 3-3/4 cups all-purpose flour; 3/4 teaspoon salt; 1 cup cold butter, cubed; 3/4 cup shortening; 9 to 10 tablespoons cold water; FILLING:; 1/3 cup sugar; 1/4 cup water; 2 tablespoons cornstarch; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 3 cups fresh or frozen pitted dark sweet cherries, thawed, halved; 1/8 teaspoon almond extract; 1 egg, lightly beaten; Coarse sugar

Become the Queen of Hearts when you make these tart-style cherry pies (but without the pepper and treacle, as in "Alice and Wonderland"). Made as single servings, they disappear at the hands of friends and knaves alike. —Taste of Home Test Kitchen

Ingredients

3-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold butter, cubed
3/4 cup shortening
9 to 10 tablespoons cold water
FILLING:
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 cups fresh or frozen pitted dark sweet cherries, thawed, halved
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1 egg, lightly beaten
Coarse sugar

Directions

In a large bowl, combine flour and salt; cut in butter and shortening until crumbly. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until dough holds together when pressed. Divide dough in half; form each into a disk. Wrap separately in plastic wrap; refrigerate 1 hour or until easy to handle.
In a large saucepan, combine sugar, water, cornstarch and lemon juice until smooth. Add cherries. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 1 minute or until thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in extract. Set aside to cool.
Preheat oven to 400°. On a lightly floured surface, roll one portion of dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut out 12 hearts with a floured 4-in. heart-shaped cookie cutter. Transfer half of the hearts to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using a floured 3/4-in. heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out small hearts from the remaining hearts. (Discard small hearts or reserve for another use.)
Spoon 2 tablespoons cherry mixture onto the center of each solid heart. Brush edges of pastry with egg. Top with cutout hearts; press edges with a fork to seal. Brush tops with egg; sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. While tarts are baking, repeat with remaining dough and filling.
Let pies stand 5 minutes before removing to wire racks. Serve warm.

Nutrition Facts

1 pie (calculated without coarse sugar): 445 calories, 28g fat (13g saturated fat), 58mg cholesterol, 262mg sodium, 43g carbohydrate (11g sugars, 2g fiber), 5g protein.

Originally published as Warm Cherry Hearts in Taste of Home February/March 2012

Reviews

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Deutsche Kuche

Feb 24, 2013

My husband loves pies, but for just two people a whole pie is too much and is often wasted. Since I wanted to bake a cherry pie for Valentine's Day and Washington's birthday I adopted this recipe using Pillsbury refigerated pie crust and canned cherry filling. To give the pies more color, i sprinked each with Betty Crocker red decorating sugar. This is a nice weekend treat that I will definately make again using different cookie cutter shapes. For St. Patricks Day - I want to make pots of gold - shamrocks filled with apple pie filling and sprinkled with yellow and green decorating sugar. And for Easter - easter eggs decorated with different color sugars. The possibilities are endless. Thanks for the great idea.
JennyQ

Feb 12, 2013

I did not make the pie crust, instead I bought pre-made pie crust. Worked just fine. The filling is excellent! Yum! I did not use parchment paper, but I should have because they did burn. My fault. Will make these again!
eyeball4

Feb 7, 2013

I use cherry pie filling--much quicker--drizzle with pink icing when cool!!
mousejockey2

Jan 31, 2012

made recipe exactly as given except I brushed the bottom crust with egg white to keep bottom crust from getting soggy.Everyone loved them. Will definetly make again, for family and special occasions.
ko44

Jan 29, 2012

The crust was so flakey and good! (I used butter flavored shortening) Love the filling too!