Strawberry Pie Bites

Strawberry pie bites made with a white whole wheat flour and butter crust, strawberry jam, and baked on sheet pan. A perfectly festive dessert for the Memorial Day or the Fourth of July.

The Fourth of July is almost here! I associate the Fourth with summer, and I associate summer with fruit pie. And I have a very, very strong suggestion for a festive treat you can bring to your Fourth of July celebrations: strawberry pie bites! See my logic there?

Strawberry pie bites are basically what you'd get if strawberry pie and pop tarts had a baby. If you love the Fourth of July, summer, fruit pies, mini things, or any combination of the above, you'll love these. And unless you're somewhat pie crust challenged (don't worry, I still totally am sometimes), these are incredibly easy to make and, for lack of a better description, SUPER ADORABLE.

Here's what to love about these strawberry pie bites:

1. Pie, butter... and pie.
2. You can easily transport them to your Fourth of July destination. Going up to cabin or lake house? Or going to your neighbor's for a barbecue? Put 'em in a container and you're ready for travel (and for car snacks, which are a life necessity).
3. They leave room for other bite size summer treats, like s'mores (hey, those are bite size in my world).
4. So festive! You can use strawberry, cherry, raspberry, or blueberry jam. Or a combination. As you can see, I only had strawberry on hand. But it's a great way to use homemade jam, jam from your local farmers market (SO good), or whatever jam you have on hand. Also, if you cut cute little stars in the top, those patriotic colors will really show through. I recommend a little cookie cutter for this (if those exist), because I just did it with the tip of a knife and it was WAY too much work... so I only did it on two.
5. Easy! Only a handful of ingredients. Mostly pantry staples. Made in a sheet pan. Done.

Now that you're thoroughly convinced that you need these, here's how you make them.

It basically comes down to rolling out a pie crust and not putting it in a pie dish, which can be very refreshing at times. (Although if I'm being honest I would take pie in any shape.)

I used a food processor to make the crust, but a pastry cutter would work just as well. Combine the white whole wheat flour, butter, and salt in the food processor and pulse until the texture looks like a bunch of crumbly pea-sized bits. It's okay for the pea-sized bits to vary in size. Then, start adding ice water one tablespoon a time, pulsing in between each addition, until the dough comes together in a ball. Careful not to add too much water, or you'll end up with a very sticky dough. I usually end up at about six tablespoons.

I like to pop the dough in the fridge or freezer right about now just to make sure it stays extra cold, especially on hot summer days. Then, while the dough chills for a sec, I flour the surface for rolling it out. For this recipe, I laid out two sheets of parchment paper so I could easily transfer it to a sheet pan, but you can just as easily pick up and move the pie squares individually.

So, you've got your parchment paper ready and floured. Get out your jam, pizza cutter, fork, and any extra flour you might need for rolling. Take the dough out of the fridge and turn it out onto the floured parchment. Sprinkle a bit of flour on it, and roll it out with a (floured) rolling pin, until it's about a ¼-inch thick. The edges will look uneven, but you can even them out using your pizza cutter. Once you've trimmed those edges off, cut vertical slices in the rolled out pie dough that are about two inches wide. Then, slice horizontally at two inches tall. You'll end up with a bunch of 2x2-inch squares. Mine were very imperfect... so don't worry if they're not exact 🙂

Slide the squares apart to create a bit of space. Now's the time to cut little shapes in the top, if you want (DO IT!). If not, go ahead and start spooning a couple teaspoons of jam onto half of the pie dough squares. It's totally fine if you overdo it -- jam will just ooze out the side when you put the top on, and then you scrape it off and eat it plain. No big hairy deal.

Okay, for some reason I think this next part is the second-most fun (the most fun part is eating them): take each un-jammed pie square and carefully place it over a square with jam. Using the tines of a fork (dip in flour to make it easier), and crimp the edges of the dough together. Then, move the squares to a large baking sheet, and put that in the fridge to keep the dough cold. Five to ten minutes is perfect.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and get out your egg and some sugar. Beat the egg, and, once chilled, get out the pie squares and brush the beaten egg over the tops. Sprinkle lightly with a bit of sugar, then bake for 15 minutes, until tops are golden.

And with that, friends, you've got yourself some strawberry pie bites.

And you know what I think really needs to happen?

These need to be dipped in whipped cream.

Or crumbled on top of some vanilla ice cream.

But strawberry pie bites eaten plain after some delicious BBQ while watching some fireworks are no less fabulous.

Happy Fourth!

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