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Cranberry Pear Pie Minis

Mini cranberry pear pie on a plate.
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5 from 6 reviews

A tart and sweet cranberry pear filling is tucked inside of flaky pastry, topped with a lattice and baked in a muffin tin to create the cutest mini pies. These Cranberry Pear Pie Minis are both festive and functional to serve during the holiday season! 

Ingredients

  • 1 Batch Pie Crust (makes 2, you'll need both)
  • 2 cups (230 grams) cranberries, fresh or frozen
  • 3 semi-ripe pears, peeled, stems and seeds removed and diced into ½” pieces (see note)
  • ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup (60 grams) fresh-squeezed orange juice, plus 1 tablespoon, divided
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch 
  • Egg wash
  • Powdered sugar (for dusting)

Instructions

  1. Prepare the pastry, let rest overnight, if possible.
  2. Make the filling: Add cranberries, pears, sugar, orange juice, ginger, cinnamon and a pinch of salt to a medium pot. Stir together. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the pears have softened and the cranberries have burst, about 10 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk together 2 teaspoons cornstarch and 1 tablespoon remaining orange juice. Stir it into the cranberry filling and cook until it has thickened. Stir in the vanilla extract. Shut off the heat and transfer the filling to a container to cool. For faster cooling, transfer to a shallow container.
  3. Preheat oven to 425ºF and place an oven rack in the lower part of the oven. Set aside a muffin tin.
  4. Roll out the pastry: Roll out one pie pastry to a thickness of ⅛”. Cut or stamp out nine 4.25” circles, rerolling the pastry once, if needed.
  5. Place the pastry inside of the muffin tins, taking care to press the pastry into the sides and the bottom.
  6. Roll out the second pastry to a rectangle about ⅛” thick and slice strips to make a lattice, if desired. Use any leftover dough to stamp out decorative pieces. Form 9 lattices on a sheet tray, and cut them with an 3” circle cutter. If at any point the dough has warmed and it is difficult to work with, transfer to the refrigerator to chill for 15 minutes.
  7. Place a scant ¼ cup of filling into the muffin tins. Do not overfill them. They should be just below the top of the dough. Transfer the lattice to the tops of the pie, and gently press together the pieces of pastry.
  8. Freeze the assembled pies for 15 minutes.
  9. Brush with an egg wash, if desired.
  10. Bake on the lowest rack until the pie crust is golden and the filling is bubbling, about 25-30 minutes.
  11. Let the pies cool for 15 minutes. While still warm, take a thin knife and run it around the edges of the pie to make sure it is loose enough. Then take the knife and gently lift the pie out from the tin. Transfer to a baking rack to finish cooling.
  12. When ready to serve, dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

Notes

The best pies for this recipe are Bartlett, D’Anjou or Comice pears. Choose semi-ripe but still firm pears. If they are too ripe, they can disintegrate after the bake.

If you are making decorative cutouts for the pie, bake them separately on a parchment-lined baking sheet for about 10 minutes, or until light and golden. You can cook them directly on the pie, but they don’t bake up as pretty.

Find it online: https://everydaypie.com/cranberry-pear-pie-minis/