Adventures in Pie Pop making

Let me preface this entry by saying "what the effing eff". Because that's what I was saying most of the time I was attempting to make these mini demon pops. Ok, I'm being dramatic. This was pie pop attempt #1. I knew I'd screw it up somehow, so I wanted to get some practice in. The plan is, I'll be making these cutey patooties for an upcoming "hat party" where we're going to have cutesy mini hors d'oeuvres and desserts. They'd be perfect! But of course, once I figure out the best way to make them.
Join me, won't you?, on a photo journey of my adventure.

First off...the ingredients. Not many. This seemed easy enough. Ready to bake pie crust (eh...), canned pie filling (I guess..), lollypop sticks (wrong!), and a cookie cutter (gah! why me...). Since attempt #1 was more about form, I went with the ease of ready-made pie crust and canned pie filling. The pie crust wouldn't stick together, the pie filling was okay, the lollypop sticks were the wrong ones and the pies wouldn't stay on them, and the cookie cutter was most definitely the wrong shape. It was a mess all around. But I tried to stay positive.


Cut out my lil flower shapes. That was the easy peasy part. At this point I was patting myself on the back, envisioning the cuteness that would soon emerge from the oven.


Added the lollypop sticks. As you can see...they're really long. There were two sizes at the store and I spent a good 10 minutes back and forth trying to decide which were the right ones to get. These long skinny ones, or the other shorter thick ones. Lesson learned.


Put a dollop of cherry goo and 2 cherries. WAY too much. It gooped out everywhere. But at the same time, way too little. I need more fruit, but have to figure out a way to keep it from gooping out everywhere. It would probably be better to just use a jam or jelly instead of actual 3-dimensional fruit. See? Lesson learned. Attempt #2 should go better.


I pressed the edges shut with a piece of another lollypop stick. And here's where I realized I used the wrong kind of cookie cutter. The "flower petals" were just too obnoxious to deal with when trying to line up the two pieces. They ultimately didn't seal very well. But I brushed them with an egg wash. That part turned out nicely.


I yanked out the lollypop sticks after they came out of the oven. None will be the wiser. They're just cute mini pies now!


But notice how they barely sealed shut? I squished them closed like nobody's business. What's the dealio? I'm wondering if it's the pie crust itself. Poor quality? I did use the store brand. Would that matter? I'm not a pie crust connoisseur.


I have a crap ton of leftover cherry pie filling now. Of the 2 pie crusts I used, it made 11 pie pops. Quite a lot of annoyance for not a lot of reward.
Now what to make? A regular-sized pie? Hmmmmm.....