Quick and Easy Fruit Pies

I hope your having a wonderful weekend! It has been pretty wet and dare I say a little chilly in my neck of the woods this weekend, leaving me with plenty of time to have some fun in the kitchen!

I wanted to make something quick and easy that everyone would enjoy for a sweet treat tonight. My dad is a big fan of pies, but my mom is a chocolate (anything) fan...so I liked the idea of these handheld individual little pies. They are very versatile so pick whatever flavors and fillings you like!

Quick and Easy Fruit Pies
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1 box of frozen puff pastry
flour
canned fruit pie filling
confectioners sugar
egg
semi-sweet chocolate, optional
sliced pine nuts, optional
ground cinnamon, optional
sugar, optional
milk, optional

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. For the pies, start by thawing the puff pastry according to the box directions. I let mine thaw in the fridge for a couple of hours and then let it sit on the counter for 10 or so minutes when I was ready to use it. Once thawed, sprinkle some flour on your work surface and roll the puff pastry out until it is about an inch larger on each side. Make sure to keep the work surface and rolling pin well floured to prevent any sticking. Using a pizza cutter, cut the pastry into four equal squares. Place a large scoop of the pie filling in the center of the pastry and fold one corner to it's diagonal, forming a triangle. Using a fork seal the edges to lock in the filling.

I purchased canned apple and canned strawberry filling for the pies I was making. I made four with apple and added a sprinkle of cinnamon before sealing. In addition to the apple, I also made four pies with strawberry and also an additional two chocolate pies with semi-sweet baking chocolate and pine nuts. For the chocolate I placed the chopped chocolate in the center of the pie and topped with pine nuts and followed the same sealing procedure as listed above. 

Once the pies are sealed with a fork, create an egg wash. Do this by combining an egg with a splash of water and whisk with a fork. Brush the tops of the pies with the egg mixture. At this point the pies are finished. I ended up sprinkling half of the pies with sugar to give it a nice caramelized crunch. Pop into the oven and bake for 18-22 minutes, or until golden brown and puffy. Let cool.

While the pies are cooling, lets whip up a yummy glaze to go on top, shall we? This step is optional. For the topping on the pies you can either dust with confectioners sugar as I did on half or drizzle with this over the top glaze. After trying the glazed pies versus the dusted pies I would suggest going for it! Make the glaze, it really adds a nice touch! Take about a 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar and add about 2 T of milk and whisk until it is a nice glaze consistency. Drizzle over pies & serve!