Celebrate Pi Day the Pi(E) Way

March 14 is also known as Pi Day for its numerical significance (3/14, 3.14). What better way to celebrate Pi Day than by sitting back and eating a pie full of Pi day puns. Instead of buying a standard pie at the store, you can now spice up your Pi Day by making one of these three easy Pi Pie recipes.

Cookie Pi Crust:
If you aren’t a fan of pies or simply have left over pie crust, then this cookie pi crust recipe will work for you.

Supplies:
Raw pie crust dough (your favorite recipe)
Butter (room temperature)
Cinnamon sugar
Cookie sheet
Spatula
Rolling Pin
Paring knife
Extra flour
Paper Pi pattern, in the size you want

First, you want to preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Continue by sprinkling a clean counter top with some of the extra flour and roll out the dough to a quarter inch thick. Next, lay down the paper pattern on top of the dough, and with a sharp paring knife, cut out the “Pi” symbol in the dough. After you have all of your “Pis” on the cookie sheet, you want to spread soft butter all over the dough. Then, spread cinnamon sugar over the dough, before baking the cookie(s) for 15 minutes. Lastly, wait awhile before taking a bite out of that delicious treat!

“There’s nothing in this world that I love more than pies. I actually never thought about celebrating Pi day with actual pies but I will definitely try these recipes out,” senior Guillermo Del Calvo said.

Mini Pi Pies:
These tiny pi pies are adorably tasty to share with friends and family. They can be served with ice cream and whip cream. In addition, you can replace the recipe with any filing that you prefer.

Pie Crust Ingredients:
5 cups pastry flour
1 lb lard
1 can 7-Up soda
*You will have a lot of leftovers since it is a big recipe, however, whatever you don’t use you can put in the freezer for future pie.

Apple Filing Ingredients: 
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and diced
1/2 lemon
1 T butter, unsalted
3 T brown sugar

Start by making the pie crust: First, preheat the oven to 425 degrees, cut the lard into the flour, add 7-Up and mix, and finally put it in the fridge for at least an hour before using. Next, Roll out your pie crust and cut out the round bottom pie crusts. After this, grease your muffins trays with cooking spray and place the dough inside the muffin tin. Pinch the bottom of every mini pie crust before putting them in the oven. Bake for about 5-9 minutes, or until the edges are golden. To make the apple filing: peel, core and dice apples and put in a bowl. Mix in lemon juice and melt butter in a saucepan. When melted, stir in the brown sugar until the sugar is no longer visible. Continue by adding the apples to the mixture and mix. To make the pi sign that goes on top,  you simply roll out more of your pie crust and cut it into thin strips. One of the three strips will be the longest which makes the top of the sign. The other two would be slightly shorter and will make the legs of the sign. Bake your Mini Pie Pies in the oven at 425 degrees for another 7-10 minutes. As soon as the Pi Symbol starts turning golden you are done.

Fried Pi Pies: 

While Fried Pi Pies are certainly not the healthiest, they are super yummy.

Supplies:

Unbaked Pie crusts
Pie filling
Deep fryer  (a medium, heavy saucepan will work too)

Oil suitable for frying
Pi template
Kitchen scissors or pastry roller
Water

Just like the Cookie Pi Crust, you want to prepare your Pi template. Lay out your rolled pie crust and cut out the shape;  you will need two pi shapes per pie. You can fill the pies with any filing you want, however, if you are looking for something that is not fruity you can fill it up with chocolate. Remember to pipe fill only in the center of one pi shape, you don’t need to fill it that much. Use a small pastry brush to slightly moisten the exposed crust edges with water. After, lay another pi shape onto the first and press the corresponding edges together. Make sure to get rid of air pockets and seal well. To finally fry the pie, heat one inch of oil in your medium pan to 350 degrees. Carefully lower pies into the oil one at a time.  Cook on one side for one minute, then turn and cook on the other side for another minute.

“I find Pi day such an adorable national holiday because it’s a day where every lover of math or puns come together. I also remember when I was in sixth grade, my science teacher took us all out of class at 3:14 p.m on March 14 and we started screaming “Pi Day” around the halls,” sophomore Dayanna Ruiz said.

These are three easy pie recipes that you can make with family and friends to enjoy Pi day.  You can always alternate some of the filings to your preferred taste. Keep in mind that you can also change the recipes a little bit, so that they can fit your style and needs better. Have fun baking and enjoy 3.14 day!