Strawberry rhubarb mini pies

A few days ago, when I came home with my share of veggies from my local CSA pick up, the first thing my hubby noticed was the long stalks of rhubarb sticking out of the bag. He completely bypassed the three large bags of salad greens, onions, garlic, potatoes, radish and dill that I was most excited about, and quickly proclaimed that a rhubarb pie was on his wish list.

As much as I love baking, pastry is not really my forte. Or rather, my preference for other, more wholesome desserts often means traditional pie crusts and other pastries are left out of the picture. But with the abundance of rhubarb now in our possession, I couldn’t say no to this rather simple request.

Since hubby is the only one in the house who will be eating said pie, I decided to make individual mini pies so that they could be kept in the freezer and defrosted whenever his rhubarb cravings hit. He loves handheld treats that he can pop right into his mouth, so this seemed like the perfect idea.

Thankfully, I had Isa and Terry‘s latest book Vegan Pie in the Sky to help me get my bearings before delving into my once-a-year, pie-making project. The first section of the book—aptly named “How to create the universe or bake a pie from scratch”—is a must-read for bakers like me who need some back-to-school basics every once in a while. It goes over details about essential ingredients (all vegan, of course), pie-making equipment and, most importantly, step-by-step instructions on how to make the all-mighty homemade pie crust, including a cute diagram showing how to make a lattice top.

I’m not going to lie: making these cute little pies did take up a good portion of my afternoon. But it was a worthwhile investment of my time. Hubby loved them.

I started by making Isa and Terry’s buttery double pie crust and and the filling from their strawberry rhubarb crumble pie. After some chill time, I rolled out one portion of the crust dough and cut out 12 circles (re-rolling to use excess dough) to fill a muffin pan. I then filled the muffin tins with the strawberry rhubarb filling and used the second portion of crust dough to make the lattice tops. Surprisingly, I had enough leftover filling and dough to also make a 6-inch deep dish pie with crumble topping!

Lucky for you, you can find Isa and Terry’s recipe for the strawberry rhubarb crumble pie here.

Pies like these have gotten an undeserved reputation for being difficult to make or for the realm of an expert baker. But, like anything really worth having in life, a little commitment, dedication and willingness to get your hands dirty pays off big time. Saying that we are now in vegan pie heaven at my house would be an understatement.

Thank you, Isa and Terry, for creating yet another awesome cookbook. I couldn’t have done this without you.