Strawberries and Cream Mini Pies

I have been dreaming these up for awhile. I was inspired by a strawberry pie I saw on Our Best Bites website but these babies are very different. These babies are oh so good. I thought my co-workers were going to fight over these and they didn't last long. These were very easy to make.

Strawberries and Cream Mini Pies
a Lacey original

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2 ready to use refrigerated pie crusts (This time I only used 1 because I was experimenting but the filling should be enough for all two)
flour for dusting
1 cup mashed strawberries
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 8 oz package cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 8 oz Cool Whip

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees

Lightly dust your work space with flour and roll out one of the pie crusts. Using a rolling pin flatten out the pie crust to thin it out a bit more. Using a round cookie cutter cut out as many rounds as you can. Place each round into a well of a mini muffin pan. Take the scraps and re-roll out until the pie dough is gone. I was able to get 23 rounds from one pie crust so you should get 46 from 2. Lightly pierce the bottom of each round of dough with a fork to keep the dough from puffing up when baking. Bake for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile in a small saucepan combine the sugar and cornstarch. Add the strawberries and water. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Cook for three minutes or until it thickens. I didn't time it but it didn't take long for the mixture to thicken. Remove from heat and let cool.

While that is cooling in a mixing bowl using a mixer beat together the cream cheese and sugar. Once combined fold in the cool whip.

To assemble: Fill each pie shell with strawberry filling. Top off with a dollop of whipped topping. If you want the pretty swirl like the picture I used a piping bag with a star tip.

I'm thinking little French silk pies next. Yum, yum.