Blueberry Cream Pie Poppers made with luscious blueberry pie filling & cream cheese sealed up in a single buttery flaky pie crust “purse” for a two-bite snack size dessert! Half the amount of crust of hand pies, but all the filling crammed into a mini!
Sometimes I wonder why I didn’t come up with some of these ideas long ago. Blueberry Cream Pie Poppers are snacking generation’s dream come true. We all want dessert, but don’t want to always over do it. Plus, snack size means you can snack on other foodie items too and come back for more pie poppers.
In an article in EATER, Portland, OR, it’s stated that 2024 Is The Year of the Snack. We all love to share, but sometimes we truly want our own snack just for ourselves. Sometimes I grab that snack at 2 a.m. and eat it by the light of the fridge.
We start by making the pie filling (or canned blueberry pie filling if time is not on your side). The pie filling is then frozen in mini muffin tins lined with plastic wrap. This step makes it incredibly easy to form these little pie poppers. The filling below is AFTER they started to freeze up, so they don’t look their best.
If you do not have mini tins, use egg cartons line with plastic; they’re the perfect size.
Once frozen, make the pie crust and cut with a 4-inch cookie cutter (3-1/2 is too small, 5-inch is too big). The link will take you to Amazon for a set of round biscuit/cookie cutters. The reason I like the set, it has full and half-inch increments AND the set is less expensive than buying one cutter at a time. The three sizes I use the most are 3.5-inch, 4-inch, and 5-inch.
Roll out half of the pie dough and cut 12 rounds with the 4-inch cookie cutter. Place about 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese (slightly sweetened – see recipe below) on each round. Fold up four edges and then crimp in the remaining dough to form a ball. Place the ball, seam side down, on a parchment lined baking sheet. For a great rolling pin, check out my favorite Farberware rolling pin.
The pie poppers are placed seam side down on baking sheet. There’s no need to seal with water or egg wash. Pinch together as good as possible before turning over onto baking sheet. The baking will take care of the sealing.
Place about 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet and brush with egg wash, and cut a vent in each.
Bake these little gems at 375 F for 25 minutes and let cool a few minutes before biting into one.
What Variations Can You Make?
- Omit the cream cheese and do straight up blueberry filling.
- Use other fillings: Triple Berry, Cherry, etc.
- Apple Filling (chopped) and add a salted caramel.
I was afraid the cream cheese would bubble out, but the filling baked exactly how I wanted it. Blueberry & cream cheese sorcery.
It’s like a mini cheesecake-ish snack size dessert!
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Blueberry Cream Pie Poppers
Equipment
- 4-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter
- Rolling pin
- Parchment paper
- Two Baking sheets
Ingredients
Blueberry Pie Filling
- 2 cups frozen or fresh blueberries
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- Pinch of cinnamon
- Dash of salt
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice + 1 teaspoon water
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch or tapioca starch
Cream Cheese Filling
- 8 ounce cream cheese (brick or spread, but NOT whipped)
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Grandma's Pie Crust (large batch for 24 pie poppers)
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup vegetable shortening
- 3/4 cup butter (room temp is good, but cold-ish is okay)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 3/4 cup very cold water
Egg wash
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 tablespoons cool water
Instructions
Blueberry Filling & Cream Cheese Filling
- Place blueberries, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and butter into a medium sized sauce pan over medium-high heat.
- Let berries come to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- In a separate bowl stir the lemon juice, water and corn starch together until no lumps. If slurry is too thick, add 1 more teaspoon of water.
- Using a whisk, gently stir the cornstarch mixture into the simmering berries. Cook and stir until thickened, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool while you prepare the mini tins (or egg cartons) to freeze the filling into individual pods.
- Freeze for 4 to 6 hours or overnight. (FYI: I tried making poppers with non-frozen pie filling; NEVER AGAIN! Crazy effin mess. )
Cream Cheese Filling
- While berry filling is freezing, mix the cream cheese and powdered sugar together. If using brick, take out of fridge a couple of hours before you will use it. If using the spread it can stay in fridge until ready to use.
Grandma's Pie Dough (for 24 poppers)
- In a large bowl, stir all of the dry ingredients together (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt).
- Using a large tine fork or pastry cutter, cut in the shortening/butter until pea-sized and crumbly.
- Add the cold water all at once and mix just until it forms a ball (do not knead or over mix).
- Divide dough in half. Roll each half and cut 12 (4-inch) round mini pie crusts. You will need to re-roll the scraps for the last 2, but ONE re-roll is okay for the dough this size.
- Place 1 tablespoon of cream cheese mixture into center of dough circle. Place one frozen berry nugget (largest diameter face down on dough), fold up edges, pinch the sides, and place pinched/seam side down on parchment lined baking sheet.
- Brush with egg wash, and bake @ 375 for 25 minutes.
