About a year ago, my husband and I had got to that time of night where you start craving something sweet and naughty. I rummaged through the cupboards and fridge to think of something quick and yummy to make. I had some ready rolled shortcrust pastry and after spotting the Nutella, these quick and easy pies were born.
This recipe not only has very few ingredients, but takes barely anytime to make.
Makes 6 pies
Ingredients
1 Pack of ready rolled shortcrust pastry
1 Small jar of Nutella (or 12 heaped teaspoons)
6tsp Caster Sugar
1/2tsp Ground cinnamon
20g Melted Butter
Your favourite ice cream (optional)
Preheat oven to 175c
Start by dusting your work surface with a small amount of plain flour & unrolling your pastry. My pastry was a little thicker than I wanted, so I used my rolling pin to get it to around 4mm in thickness. Don't worry this doesn't have to be exact, i'm not expecting anyone to be taking a ruler to their pastry.
The beauty of this recipe if that nothing needs to be perfect or precise, I promise you it will still taste amazing.
Using whatever cookie cutter that takes your fancy, start cutting out your mini pies. My heart cutter is about 3.5 inches and made 12 individual pastry hearts.
Place 6 pastry cut outs onto a lined baking sheet. Melt the butter over a gentle heat until fully melted. Using a pastry brush or a finger tip, brush the butter onto the outside edge of of the pastry.
Next add 2 heaped teaspoons of Nutella into the centre of you pastry and roughly spread leaving about 1 cm bare. Place the remaining pastry over the top of each piece, press the outside edge together using your fingertips to create a seal. Alternatively for a traditional pie look, use the back of a fork to crimp the edges.
With the remaining butter, brush the top of each pie. In a small pot mix together the cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle a teaspoon over each pie and make a small cut in the top to allow steam to be released when baking.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until the pastry has become golden at the edges and firm to the touch. Leave to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
I have no photo of my husband Scot (the cake thief) this week, but be assured he did not wait the allotted five minutes and took one straight from the oven. Personally I wouldnt advise this because the Nutella will be like molten lava.
These pies are delicious warm or cold and will keep in an air tight container for 4 days. Ive played around mixing flavours with these mini pies before. here are some of my suggestions:
Nutella & Banana, Nutella & Mini Marshmallows, Salted Caramel, Peanut Butter & Strawberry Jam.
If you make these, please let me know by tagging me on Instagram or Facebook @annabellabakes I cant wait to see what you create ❤