A Dozen A Day

Yesterday I made one dozen cherry pies.  Sounds like a lot, huh?  Not really.

Pie By The Dozen

3/4 jar of Dark Morello Cherries from Trader Joe's
1 refrigerator pie crust
1/2 cup quick cook oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
1/4 cup flour + 2 Tbsp
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 stick of butter, softened
Non stick cooking spray
and the ancient Chinese secret... a muffin pan!

In a bowl, mix the brown sugar, oats, salt & 1/4 cup flour.  Set aside.  In another bowl, pour out about 3/4 of the jar of cherries and a few Tbsp of the liquid. (Save the rest to pour in soda, lemonade or better yet, vodka!)  Add in the sugar and 2 T flour.  Mix and set aside.  Liberally spray a regular size muffin pan with non-sticky stuff.  Set aside.  Unroll the pie crust and using a biscuit cutter cut out 12 circles. Using a rolling pin roll each of these circles into a slightly larger one and fit them into muffin pan.  They won't come up all the way on the sides, but that is OK.  Now spoon in a layer of cherries but do not overfill!  Spoon the oats & sugar mixture over the top.  Now dot the tops with the softened butter.
Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes or until you can see that cherry juice bubbling up and the tops are brown and crunchy.
Let them cool a few minutes in the pan then run a knife around the edge to loosen them.  Remove them for the muffin pan and cool on a wire rack.
Eat a few, then hide the rest from your family.  This can be done by wrapping each in foil and placing into a large freezer bag.  Label as follows:  Beets, Brussel Sprouts and Other Yucky Stuff.  Put in the freezer. 
When your family has gone to sleep, sneak a couple out and microwave for 30 seconds while you pour a glass of milk.  Savor, enjoy but don't tell anyone!