Mini Sour Cherry Pies with Pistachio Crumble -- Sweet Melissa Sundays

Today's pick for Sweet Melissa Sundays comes from my blogging friend Michelle at Flourchild -- thank you, Michelle! :) This pie was one of the recipes that really caught my eye when I flipped through The Sweet Melissa Baking Book for the first time, and I was going to pick it when it was my choice, but Michelle beat me to it! That's fine though, I got to make it earlier this way, and absolutely loved this recipe!


I could not find fresh tart cherries around here but did find some frozen ones...



I bought a couple bags and these turned out perfectly in the pies! Next time I see fresh sour cherries (aka tart or montmorency cherries) I will pick up some just to make this delicious pie again. It was a last minute decision to make mini pies, I looked at my pie plates and did not have a 10 inch one, I had a 9 inch and a 9.5 inch...I was going to use the 9.5 but then thought mini pies would be easier to serve up to the kids, so I took out a standard muffin tin and got to work.




My changes were to use butter and margarine instead of butter and shortening in the pie crust --which I think turned out fine...


and to make the pistachio crumble in the food processor, since the oats and pistachios needed to be crushed up in there anyway, I figured it'd be easier just to make it all in there...perfect !


These little pies were absolutely delicious, not too sweet, not too tart, just amazing. The perfect combo of textures and flavors. I can see why this is a popular pie -- I will be making it again for sure.

Last Sunday, Katie of Katiecakes (isn't that the cutest blog name?) picked Guinness Gingerbread for us to try... I baked along but didn't get a chance to post about it last weekend...

I used this holiday ale instead of guinness since we had some on hand, and used this Nordic Ware "fairy tale cottage" pan to bake the gingerbread in...

My only change to the gingerbread was to leave out the white pepper...I am really not a black or white pepper fan, sorry! The gingerbread was delicious, I loved all of the flavors and would make this recipe again for sure. My kids were crazy about the gingerbread, the all loved it and wanted me to make another when this one was all gone, I told them they might have to wait until next Christmas for some more gingerbread, but you never know :) I have to say I don't think this recipe is the best for a shaped pan, even though the volume was correct, it just didn't turn out as cute as I expected it to -- guess I will have to try the gingerbread recipe that came with the pan and hope for better results.


Lastly, a quick photo of the Lemon Icebox Cake...when I posted about this recipe I had not served it or tried it...


and there it is. I have to say that this recipe totally surprised me, in a good way! I didn't think we would really care for this one, and if it hadn't been picked by Jennifer of Keep Passing the Open Windows as out Sweet Melissa Sundays recipe, I probably would have skipped it, but we all loved it, what an amazing cool and refreshing dessert, yum :)