Mini blueberry and Chia pies....

You know how you go to the farmer’s market and buy some really fresh and plump blueberries from a local grower and can’t wait to get home? The entire time, you dream about plump,ripe frozen blueberries for all kinds of goodness?

And then you get home and realize your organic, pasture-raised eggs were slowly crushing said blueberries to a slow and gooey death.

After I picked through the mush for the few good berries that were left, I decided it was a good time to try out a recipe that had been swirling around in my head for a while.

So the kids and I made mini blueberry and Chia pies.

I know it sounds weird.

But it’s amazing!

I’ve mentioned before that we have a corn allergy in our house, which limits some of the things we can buy off the shelf. Many items, like ready made pies are thickened with corn starch or a corn derivative.So I cook a lot at home and we’ve used potato starch and tapioca starch as a thickener, but I’ve been really intrigued by Chia seeds and their super-food power.

I’ve been reading on them and they have some medical benefits and are really high in fiber. They are also said to be a great thickener and egg substitute, so I thought that trying a blueberry pie filling with them with my smooshed blueberries was the perfect time to try it out since they can absorb a huge amount of liquid for their size.I’m not an expert and I would recommend reading up on them if you’ve never had them because there are some medical conditions in which you shouldn’t eat too many, or at all. And I would say anytime you try a new food you should use it with caution until your body is used to it. I’ve read some recommendations are that you drink a good amount of water when you eat Chia seeds because of their water-loving ability. It would kind of stink to get constipated from a piece of pie. 🙂

I couldn’t find an on-line recipe for what I wanted so I took an apple pie recipe I found and tweaked it a bit. And I found some really cute mini paper cake cups at Homegoods that were perfect for mini pies.

For mini Blueberry and Chia seed pies.

Pre-heat oven to 425.

You’ll need:

Muffin cups or small cake cups.

Ready-made or homemade pie crust (Trader Joe’s doesn’t have any corn products in it)

2 cups smashed blueberries

3/4 cup raw sugar

2 TBSP Chia seeds (Or if you don’t have Chia seeds, 2 TBSP thickening starch)

1 cup water

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

Add 1/2 cup water to chia seeds and let sit for 30-45 minutes. The coating around them will begin to expand and become gelatinous.Set off to the side.

Cook smashed blueberries, 3/4 cup sugar,salt,vanilla and 1/2 cup water until slightly thickened. Remove from heat,add soaked Chia seed mixture and mix. Let cool slightly. It will be flaming hot.

Prepare cake cups by greasing the lining with butter or coconut oil and line with pie crust. My cake cups were self-standing, so I lined them up on a cookie sheet (Use a muffin tin for stability if you can’t find cake cups.). Carefully add the warm blueberry pie mixture. We used a little left over pie crust to make mini “blueberries” on top.

Bake at 425 degrees for about 10-15 minutes until your crust is browned and your pie mixture is bubbling. It also depends on how big your pie cups are.

CAREFULLY remove your pan from the oven and let sit somewhere to cool. The mini-pies will come out like flaming lava. Resist temptation to dig in until they are cool.