Recently, my friend Peggy made re-usable masks for my husband, one of our daughters (the other one is overseas), and me. Here are mine and my husband’s masks. Perfect for tiding us over while I figure out how to make a few more. (And my husband’s workplace has disposable ones if necessary.)

I wanted to thank her… and of course, my go-to thank you is PIE! But Peggy pointed out that she and her husband don’t need a whole pie for just the two of them.

Hmmm. It’s hard to bake a half-pie. Messy to cut a pie in half.

So I decided to try… mini pies! I have a box of pot-pie sized tins that I’ve used a few times for pot pies–why not for mini pies?

A Simple Adjustment

I went with French Apple.

I decided to make a full-sized single crust, and the full-sized amount of filling, and see how many mini-pies that would translate to.

It turns out… 6. (I’ve included a photo of a mini-pie on a dessert/salad/side plate inside my regular pie pan.

I put the 6 pies on a cookie sheet, and baked as usual, but decided to check the mini-pies after 25 minutes or so. Turned out, that was all the adjustment I needed to make to the recipe–reduce the baking time.

So now I’m feeling obsessed with making all kinds of mini-pies… or, to put it another way, many mini pies. (I’m fine. Truly.)

I took a pair of the pies to her house with a note, and put the box with them on the end of the walk. (She was outside, and it turned out we were able to visit from more than 6 feet apart.)

Pie Math:

As I explained to her in my note:

1 pie = 8 slices (or 1/8 pie)

1 pie = 6 mini pies (or 1/6 pie), so…

1 mini pie = 1/6 whole pie, and thus…

1/2 mini pie = 1/12 whole pie, and…

1/12 pie (aka 1/2 mini pie) < 1/8 pie (or 1 slice regular pie), so…

With all the calories you’re saving (33%!) by having 1/2 mini pie versus a regular slice of a pie… you can have a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, guilt free!

Although, in the time of pandemic, I think it’s totally legit to eat as much pie as you want.

Stay safe everyone!