Theme Week: Valentine's Day

Sweetie Pies

I would have to agree with my older sister in saying that Valentine's Day has never been my favorite holiday. In fact, last year when I was teaching, I totally blanked and realized the night before the Valentine's Day party that the 5th graders I was teaching would definitely be expecting a Valentine from their new student teacher. A rushed trip to Target was definitely in order, and I came away with two bags of sweet tarts that I just finished eating* about a month ago.

This year I wasn't in a rush, but I did visit Target to peruse their holiday section. Do you ever go to Target to just walk around? I am not sorry to say that I do; however, I also know that this is a dangerous activity. It's almost impossible to leave Target without buying something, and last Saturday my downfall was a pack of adorable striped straws that I thought would be the perfect accent to these little heart-shaped pies.

I got the idea for these teeny treats on pinterest, via the cute blog The Farm Chicks. I deviated only slightly from their method, opting for pre-made pie crust (partly because I had it, partly because I'm lazy) and nutella and strawberry jam fillers instead of raspberry. They turned out to be adorable and really could not be easier.

Using a cookie-cutter, stamp an even amount of hearts out of your pie crust. 

If you need to, you can bundle the scraps in a ball and re-roll to get more.

Add a dollop of your chosen filling to the center of each dough-heart.

*Note: Try to pick a fruit jam that holds up. You don't want runny here.

Wet the edges around your filled dough-heart with a small amount of water, then place the second heart atop. Using a fork, stamp the edges to seal and prick the middle to vent.

Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Allow to cool & sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Enjoy! (with your pink striped straw :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!

*By "finished eating" I really mean took to work and left in the kitchen for someone else to eat. They were gone in (I'm not kidding you) 5 minutes! Anything to help pass the time. ;)