Everything is better when it's mini, right?  Okay, maybe not everything, but a lot of things.  Including pie!  I made a bunch of pastry dough a couple weekends ago, and made these mini chicken pot pies AND mini apple pies for dessert.  Ugh.  So good!!  I also really enjoy getting to eat "the WHOLE thing".  Ha!

Another bonus of mini pies?  A higher crust to filling ratio...you know, if you're into flaky, delicious, crust perfection.  They're also great for small households, since you can easily take one or two in your lunch the next day, or pop them in the freezer to pull out one or two at a time in the future!

mini chicken pot pies

recipe: Kelsey

Ingredients:

1 lb pie dough (my recipe here)

1 cup milk

chicken soup concentrate (ex. Better than Bouillon)

1/2 medium onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons flour

1 large carrot, chopped

1/2 cup broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces

1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken thigh (or breast), cut into bite-sized pieces and cooked

black pepper

Directions:

First make the chicken broth mixture by mixing chicken broth concentrate with warmed up milk. (I used better than bouillon, and it calls for 1 tsp concentrate per 1 cup)

In a medium skillet, melt the butter and saute the onion and garlic on medium high for several minutes until the onion starts getting soft.  Stir in the flour mixture and mix until it's evenly distributed.  Add the chicken broth mixture, and whisk until the mixture starts to simmer and thickens.  Add the carrots and simmer until they are nearly cooked.  Add in broccoli, cooked chicken, and season with black pepper to taste.  Set mixture aside to cool a bit while you get the dough ready.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Roll out the pie dough and cut large circles out so that there is a bit of overhang once you place them into a muffin tin.  If you don't have a cookie cutter big enough, try using a bowl, or just use clean scissors to cut a rough circle (that's what I did!).  Cut smaller circles that are the same diameter of the top of the muffin tins.

Spoon some of the filling into each muffin tin, place the smaller circle of dough on top, and crimp the edges over to seal it firmly.  Poke a couple holes in top for the steam to escape, and brush with a bit of egg if you'd like a beautiful, brown and shiny crust!

Bake at 400 for 30-40 minutes.  Cool slightly before serving!

*Pop any extras into the freezer for later.

Also, in completely unrelated news....our RHUBARB is now big enough to pick!!!  So yes, that means that today I made a rhubarb coffee cake AND tried my hand at making rhubarb scones.  I LOVE RHUBARB!  So keep your eyes peeled for some rhubarb-y recipes coming your way soon.

-Kelsey