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Give me ALL THE SUMMER PIES! 

All the apple pies for my father-in-law. All the fresh strawberry pies with from-the-field berries for dinners with friends. And all the quick and easy galletes with summer produce and homemade pie dough just because.

My love for pie runs deep. Not only because pie is amazingly delicious, but also because it’s so very versatile. With the same dough, you can bake a beautiful pie for a party (don’t forget the whipped cream!), make a batch of tasty empanadas for dinner, grab some jam to make freezer pop-tarts, or whip up a couple dozen little pies that fit perfectly in your hand, no fork or plate needed. 

Mini Cherry Pies

I like to make these mini cherry pies for the 4th of July and other summer cookouts. Cherries are almost always on sale, and I can get 2 dozen mini pies with a double batch of pie dough and a bag of fresh cherries. Plus, I can make them ahead of time, either the day before or the morning of, and they’re just as good.

Pitting cherries is one of my kids favorite kitchen tasks, so they always eagerly join in the process. They take turns pitting, slicing, and stirring the cherry mixture, and the job gets much easier for me.

In order to keep the clean up simple and easy, I like to put down some parchment under their work area. All the juices and mess are contained, and when we’re done, we just fold up and toss the parchment.

A sharp paring knife works well for halving the cherries, but even easier is a small pair of kitchen scissors!

Favorite tools for the job: 

• cherry pitter
• small serrated paring knife
• small kitchen scissors

These little mini cherry pies always meet with rave reviews at the cookout, especially topped with a dollop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream!

Make these pies. You won’t regret it. Bring them to your next cookout or potluck. Just be sure to share them, because I don’t think having 24 mini pies in the house is good for anyone’s summer style.;-)

More like this :: 

• Naturally Sweetened Fresh Strawberry Pie
• Best Classic Apple Pie (Ever)
• 20+ Tasty Summer Cookout Recipes
• Summer Corn Soufflé
• Peach Recipes to Enjoy Summer Peaches Now & Later

Mini Cherry Pies

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star No reviews

• Author: Lisa @ This Pilgrim Life
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 50 minutes
• Yield: 24 pies 1x

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Description

These mini cherry pies are SO GOOD and perfect for outdoor cookouts and holiday gatherings! I love how easy they are to make, and that they don’t need any utensils or plates for serving!

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Ingredients

• double pie crust
• 2 lbs sweet cherries, pitted & halved
• 1 1/2 Tbsp arrowroot powder (or sub tapioca powder)
• 1/4 C sugar
• lemon zest from 1 lemon, or 1/2 tsp dried lemon peel
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• pinch ground nutmeg
• turbinado sugar for topping

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Instructions

1. Make the pie dough, divide the dough in half, and wrap both pieces in plastic wrap and press into disks. Refrigerate both disks for at least one hour.

2. Remove one pie disk from the refrigerator and roll the dough out into a 1/4 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut 4-inch circles from the dough and press each into an ungreased opening in a muffin tin. Press together the scraps and roll them out again, dusting the counter with flour, cutting more circles, and repeating the process until you have used all the dough.

Remove the second disk and repeat rolling and cutting until you have filled the muffin tins. The recipe should fill two standard muffin pans.

Refrigerate both muffin pans while you assemble the cherry filling.

3. Preheat the oven to 400°.

4. In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the halved cherries and the following four ingredients. Let stand for ten minutes to give the arrowroot time to thicken the mixture.

5. Remove the muffin tins from the refrigerator. Fill each cup with two heaping tablespoons of cherry filling. Sprinkle the tops of the pies with turbinado sugar.

6. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, rotating the pans halfway through.

7. Cool the pans on a wire rack for at least ten minutes before removing the mini pies.

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I’m a big fan of waffles (my preference over pancakes), and this time of the year (late summer when I’m swimming in garden produce), I’m especially a fan of ways to put our garden harvest to use.

Our zucchini plants have produced prolifically this summer, so besides eating the veggies immediately, putting them up for later, and giving them away, I’m also trying to come up with new uses so nothing is wasted.

These sourdough chocolate chip zucchini waffles are one of the new ways I’m using up zucchini. (I’ll share the other ways I’m using zucchini at the end of this post, just before the recipe). 

Sourdough Chocolate Chip Zucchini Waffles

These waffles are made with sourdough “discard”. I like to feed my sourdough starter regularly during the week so I have enough discard to use on the weekends for special breakfasts. Besides waffles, sourdough pancakes are also a big hit. You could also simply feed a larger amount a day or two before you wanted sourdough waffles, reserving the extra, the “discard”, in the fridge until you need it.

Besides sourdough discard, the waffles have 2 cups of shredded zucchini. You can shred the zucchini with a box grater or a food processor. I absolutely LOVE my food processor for shredding vegetables because it turns a ten minute job into a 30 second job.

The chocolate isn’t absolutely necessary, but it’s definitely a nice touch. I’ve used both dark chocolate and semisweet chocolate in these waffles with good results.

Finally, I never liked making waffles until I got my Krups waffle maker because I felt like it took forever to make all the waffles. This waffle maker makes 4 big waffles at a time. Highly recommend! 

I’ve shared about putting up our garden produce on Instagram a lot. If you enjoy seeing recipes and food ideas, be sure to check me out there! I have a highlight dedicated to our garden this year with easy clips of what I’ve shared and links to relevant posts.

Here is a breakdown of what I’ve been doing with our zucchini. I’m always looking for more ways to put up zucchini for later, so let me know in the comments if you have a favorite way I haven’t listed!

Enjoying zucchini…

NOW :: 

• sautéed zucchini and squash
• roasted zucchini spears 
• fried zucchini
• zucchini waffles
• zucchini  muffins
• zucchini “zoodle” lo mein
• Garden Pasta Primavera

LATER ::

• dehydrated zucchini chips
• canned pineapple zucchini
• freezing shredded zucchini

More ideas on how to process your garden harvest here! 

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Waffles

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star No reviews

• Author: Lisa @ This Pilgrim Life
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 50 minutes
• Yield: 12 waffles 1x

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Description

I love the taste of these chocolate chip zucchini waffles! Made with sourdough discard, shredded zucchini, and bits of chocolate, they’re such a fun and tasty breakfast!

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Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 cups sourdough discard
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 cup milk or whey
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• 1 cup choc chips (semisweet or dark)

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Instructions

1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour through the sea salt). Whisk together until incorporated. In a large glass measuring cup, combine the wet ingredients (sourdough discard, eggs, butter, and milk). Whisk together until smooth.
2. Pour the wet mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir well until no dry streaks remain. Stir in the zucchini and chocolate chips. Let stand ten minutes.
3. Heat your waffle iron, then grease with melted butter or cooking spray.
4. Pour the waffle batter into the hot, grease waffle iron once the plates are hot. Cook until your waffles are done, according to your preference. Transfer the finished waffles to a plate and keep warm. Repeat making waffles until you run out of batter.
5. Serve with maple syrup, butter, and/or your favorite waffle toppings.

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Today I’m sprucing up an older recipe for carrot raisin muffins from the blog because after years of enjoying them (the recipe has been on the blog for 7 years!), they are still a go-to all during the spring and summer for picnics and adventure days.

Muffins in general tend to be one of my favorite picnic foods, especially with kids, because they’re so easy to make in the morning and so easy to eat out of the house. If I don’t already have bread or another plan for lunch, I can easily make some muffins with what I have on hand– whether that’s carrots, bananas, zucchini… whatever. (I am also a big fan of making lunch muffins more filling and less dessert-like. We are having lunch, not a cupcake party).

I bake a big batch and put them in one of our reusable Grove bags before we head out. Paired with cheese sticks, apples, and maybe some salami or veggie straws, and we have a very simple grab-and-go picnic lunch.

Pro-tip: bake mini muffins when you know you’ll be on the go, at the beach, or the kids will likely be more interested in playing than eating. They can pop one in their mouth and be off again. Mini muffins are perfect for the beach too because anything you can handle less with sandy hands is a winner. 

Carrot Raisin Muffins

These carrot raisin muffins are really easy to make– once you shred the carrots. That’s honestly the step that takes the longest, but there are definitely ways of speeding up the process.

My favorite way to shred carrots quickly is with my food processor. Literally, less than 5 minutes and I have more than enough shredded carrots to use. It is incredibly efficient, not to mention the carrot is perfectly shredded.

If you don’t have a food processor, a box grater works great too. (pun intended) If I don’t feel like getting the food processor out, I use the box grater. (Though, to be sure, I’m not actually saving any energy there).

Or… another easy solution is to simply buy shredded carrots.

If I didn’t scare you off with all that talk about carrot shredding, the rest is completely downhill. Stir together flour, oats, raisins, shredded carrots, and leaveners in a bowl. Mix together a mashed banana, maple syrup, egg, oil, and milk in a measuring cup. Then combine.

As with all muffins, take care not to overmix so that you do not end up with tough muffins.

Pro-tip: USE PARCHMENT MUFFIN LINERS. Just do it. Don’t bother with paper muffin cups that stick to the muffin and just tear up when you’re trying to get them off. And definitely don’t bother with cleaning a muffin pan. Tedious! These are the best. Go ahead and get the pack of 4 to last you all season. 

These muffins truly are a must for spring and summer! The last time I made them for a hike with friends, we ate all 2 dozen between us and a few of our friends– who (unashamedly tooting my horn here) said that they were some of the best muffins they’d ever eaten. Now, that could have been in part because the hike was over and we were all rather famished and tired.

But, I do like to think that it’s also because these carrot raisin muffins are, in fact, quite delicious. 

More Like This ::

• Super Awesome List of Healthy Snack Ideas
• Grab & Go Picnic Foods
• Nutty Blueberry Muffins
• Raisin, Date, Walnut Muffins
• Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

If you are an adventuring family like us, be sure to check out my adventuring posts (find them all in one convenient place here). We looooove spring and summer adventure season, and share regularly about what we’re up to and what’s working well on Instagram.

Carrot Raisin Muffins

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.5 from 4 reviews

• Author: Lisa @ This Pilgrim Life
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 12 muffins 1x

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Description

These carrot raisin muffins are naturally sweetened and full of wholesome ingredients. They’re quick and easy– a perfect healthy picnic or afternoon snack!

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Ingredients

• 1 1/2 C flour
• 1 C oats
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3 cups shredded carrots, about 3 large or 4 small/medium carrots
• 1/2 C raisins
• 1 mashed banana
• 1 egg
• 1/2 C milk
• 1/3 C maple syrup
• 1/4 C melted coconut oil

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour through the baking soda. Stir together. Add the shredded carrots and raisins to the flour mixture and stir until the carrots and raisins are well incorporated into the flour mixture.

3. In a liquid measuring cup, mash one ripe banana. Add the egg and mix well, then pour in the milk, syrup, and oil. Pour the mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir just until all the ingredients are blended with no streaks of flour remaining.

4. Grease your muffin pan or place in parchment muffin liners. Evenly distribute the muffin batter in the pan. Optional: sprinkle the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar. Bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes or until the tops are golden and the muffins feel springy to the touch. Let the muffins cool in the pan for five minutes before removing them.

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