HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

I have started a 4th of July tradition of making individual cherry pies to help celebrate the festivites.  This is the second year in a row I have made the yummy goodness.  When I was a kid we used to go to the Hostess store and pick out our favorite pie flavor.  They had cherry, blackberry, blueberry, vanilla and chocolate pudding pies....Oh, the memory of having one of those pies in my small childhood hand.  And now it ROCKS that I can make ANY flavor I choose.  YES! 

It took me awhile to perfect this recipe.  Many of the recipes out there require you to deep fry your pie.  Yeah....I don't deep fry ANYTHING anymore.  This is a total side note....but today we went to the arts festival here in Colorado Springs and they were serving giant corn dogs.  The novelty of a giant corn dog was more than I could handle and I purchased one.  Oh goodness, did I get sick to my stomach!  UG!  Deep frying is BA-A-A-A-D!  Back to pies....I figured if you bake real pies, why couldn't I back my individual fruit pies?  BINGO!

4th of July Fruit Pies!
Cherry Filling:
4 cups cherries, rinsed, stemmed and pitted

1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Combine cherries, sugar and lemon juice in pan and cook down until the cherries have released some of their juices, about 10-15 minutes.  Add almond extract and cornstarch.  Cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until the juice becomes a thick sauce.  Allow sauce to cool before use.

At this point you can use the premade pie crusts from the grocery store, or if you feel adventurous, you can use my recipe for pie crusts.  Roll out the pie crust and cut into 3-4 inch circles.  I used a regular cereal bowl to ensure my circles were all the same size.  Spoon about 8-9 cherries with sauce into the center of the pie crust and fold the crust over on itself.  Crimp the two edges together to create a seal.  Do your best not to let the filling seep out the edges or you will get a bad seal.  Cut a small whole in the pie and place on a cookie sheet.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees and cook for 11-13 minutes.

Glaze:  From Rebecca Rather Rather Sweet Bakery cookbook
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all together and whisk out lumps.  Use a pastry brush to brush over warm pastries.  Allow pastry to cool before serving.