blueberry walnut mini pie

This is the story of a last minute dessert. A dessert with the best of intentions that went from idea .... to failure... to success. Dare I say, an even better success than it would have been it everything had worked out.

I invited my friend Ann over on Saturday for dinner. I lured her over with the promise of fresh buratta and garden tomatoes. Since that did not feel like enough of a meal, I wanted to "whip up" a dessert real quick. Although I have a healthy stash of ice cream sandwiches in the freezer, I kind of wanted to show Ann a good time. Not a "do you want mint chip or funfetti frozen yogurt ice cream bar?" time.

I've made galettes several times before and they've been incredibly easy. The first time I made one, I also made my own ice cream. The most "complicated" part is making a pie dough but if that stresses you out, you can just buy a pre-made crust. But when I was grabbing some last minute prosciutto at the store, I didn't think it was necessary to grab an emergency pie crust. Silly me.

So what happened? I think the dough just didn't get enough time to set in the fridge. As soon as I started to roll it out it was too soft and started to break apart. I quickly pivoted and grabbed my ramekins and made mini pies. They came out so great. 

A few things:

• This dough is next level delicious. The combination of cinnamon and walnuts with blueberries is amazing.
• Make sure you top the crust with ample sugar. This isn't the place to cut back in life. You are already eating pie.
• You are nuts if you serve this without ice cream or whip cream. It is borderline required. I grabbed some cool whip to keep life easy. 

Here's how it goes.

Dough

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Toast walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing once, until fragrant and slightly darkened, 10–15 minutes; let cool. Pulse nuts in a food processor until the consistency of coarse meal. 
2. Add flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon and pulse just to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with a few pea-size pieces remaining.
3. With the food processor running, drizzle up to 4 Tbsp. ice water and mix, adding another tablespoonful of water if needed, just until mixture comes together. 
4. Gently pat dough into a 6"-diameter disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 1 hour.
5. NOTE: Dough can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled, or freeze up to 1 month.

Filling and Assembly

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Toss blueberries, cornstarch, lemon juice, and ¼ cup sugar in a large bowl.
2. Roll out dough on a lightly floured to just about a 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick.
3. Depending on your interest in precision, you can either cut a circle of dough for your ramekin or just piece it together with your hands. Either way, grease your ramekins and then fill the bottom of your ramekins with dough. 
4. Cook ramekins in the oven for about 15 minutes until the dough begins to puff up a bit. 
5. Fill each ramekin with the blueberry mixture and then top with more of the dough. 
6. Brush dough with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
7. Bake until crust is dark golden brown and filling is bubbling, 40–50 minutes. Let cool before serving.
8. NOTE: Mini pies can be baked 1 day ahead. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature.

Shopping List

Dough
½ cup walnuts
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup (1 stick) chilled butter, cut into pieces

Filling12 ounces blueberries (about 2 cups)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1½ teaspoons fresh lemon juice
¼ cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
All-purpose flour (for surface)
2 tablespoons milk, half-and-half, or heavy cream