Mini Plum Pies Inspired by "Each Peach Pear Plum"

Makes 28 to 30 mini pies

After locating the hidden characters throughout the pages of Each Peach Pear Plum, we finally spy plum pie, enjoyed by everyone. Let kids help assemble these tiny pies—their little fingers are perfect for crimping the pastry edges together—and share them with friends. Because these are lower in sugar than traditional pies, they’re perfect for breakfast or snacktime.

Ingredients:

• 1 (15-ounce) Package refrigerated pie dough (enough for 1 double-crust pie)
• 3 Firm-ripe red plums
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• All-purpose flour for dusting surface
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees and coat cups of a mini-muffin tin with cooking spray. Cut plums into ¼-inch dice and place in a mixing bowl.
   Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl; reserve 1 tablespoon sugar mixture separately, and add remaining to plums. Add lemon juice and cornstarch to plums; toss to combine.
   
2. Dust surface with flour. Use a floured rolling pin to roll dough a bit thinner so you have about an 11-inch circle. Use a 3-inch cutter to cut as many rounds of dough as you can, and gently press them into the prepared muffin cups, leaving an overhang. Fill with plum mixture just to the top edge of the tin (do not overfill.) Place muffin tin in the fridge for 10 minutes.
   
3. Repeat rolling process with remaining piece of pie dough, this time using a smaller, 1 ¾ to 2-inch round cutter to make the top crust. Cut a vent in the top of each round with a small shaped cutter, or slit with a knife. Place smaller rounds over plum filling and fold bottom-crust edges over to seal. Brush tops with cream and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar. Freeze pies for 10 minutes.
   
4. Bake until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, about 22 minutes. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Cool until pies are just warm, then use a small offset spatula to gently loosen and remove pies from tin. Be careful not to break pastry as you remove pies. Once cool, pies will keep for up to 3 days.

Note: Look for plums that are quite firm and just barely ripe, erring on the side of unripe rather than overripe. If plums are too soft, they will be hard to dice and will turn to mush inside the pies.

Book info: Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. Puffin, 1986