Kids Cuisine

One of the foods that my children enjoy time and time again is pie.  Mostly fruit pies, but on occasion a crème pie may work its way in there.  Hands down the favorite is apple, followed closely by pumpkin and cherry.  The other day my son asked if I could make apple pie, and the wheels have been turning ever since.  His request for pie turned into a quest for something the kids could make themselves, and that turned into an opportunity for me to be a sneaky mom again.

We started with the two components for apple pie- crust and filling.  In this case, for experimentation purposes I chose to use a store bought crust and canned filling.  By all means, make your own crust and filling, but the pre-made varieties served our purposes well. To the can of low-sugar apple pie filling I added a few shakes of cinnamon, and then the sneaky mom added a few spoonfuls of wheat germ. I chopped the apples just a touch so they would conform well to being molded. Next, I rolled out my 9-inch pie crust just a tad and cut out large circles in the dough. I ended up with 9 circles, and then recruited my helpers.

Very carefully, they spooned pie filling into the center of each circle and folded the dough over. The edges were first pressed together with a finger, and then sealed further with the pressing of a fork. The mini-pies were placed on a baking sheet, poked with a fork, and brushed with milk. Next they baked up in a 450ºF oven for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown. After the mini pies cooled for just a bit, they received a tiny drizzle of powdered sugar glaze before being eaten. All mouths declared them delicious, and I swear no one knew there was wheat germ inside, and the kids had the opportunity to enjoy something they made themselves.