Blackberry Mini Cookie Cups

When are you the most adventurous and creative in your cooking?  I find that I am at my best when I am inspired at the market and when I have company coming.  I always check out the berries to see if they look good and go from there.  I saw some beautiful blackberries at Costco and into my basket they went.  I did not know what I would do with them but it had to be dessert and company was coming, the pressure was on!  Then I went to the grocery store to pick up a few non-Costco items and when I saw the pre-made cookie dough I was inspired again.  So, into my basket a roll of sugar cookie dough went.
There was a recipe on the back of the cookie dough package for cookie cups so it would be perfect.  My only concern was - would the berries bleed through the cookie cups..... NO!  They did not!

Well, I decided to do a play on blackberry pie in mini cookie cups.  I pulled out a couple of cookbooks for pie and finally decided to revert back to my Grandma's Blackberry Pie mixture for the berry part of my dessert.  When I was growing up, my Grandma made the best Blackberry Pie.  She just added sugar and a little flour to the wild blackberries that we kids picked.  She made her own pie crust and baked the pie until it was golden and delicious.  She never did write down her recipes so it has been a lot of trials and errors to come up with ingredient amounts.  This is my version of Grandma's Blackberry Pie in Sugar Cookie Cups.  You can make your own recipe for Sugar Cookies or just fudge a little and use the already made roll of sugar cookie dough, like I did.  Since the cookie cups are baked without the berry mixture, I mixed up the pie filling and cooked it on the top of the stove until it was thickened, similar to a jam.  So easy, so pretty and so good!

                                         BLACKBERRY MINI COOKIE CUPS

16 oz. roll pre-made Sugar Cookie Dough

2 teaspoons sugar

2 cups Blackberries

1/2 - 3/4 cup Sugar (taste your berries for tartness, add more sugar if needed)

1 Tablespoon Flour

1/2 teaspoon Butter or Margarine 

1/4 cup Water

Lightly spray 24 mini muffin pan with cooking spray.  Remove the pre-made Cookie Dough from the package.  Divide it into 24 equal pieces (about 1 Tablespoon each) and roll them into balls.  Place one ball into each muffin cup.  Press the Cookie Dough to line each muffin cup.  I used the end of my citrus reamer to help press the dough.  I dipped the end into sugar and lightly pressed.  Then I used my fingers to get the sides to the top of the muffin cup.  Be gentle and don’t make the dough too thin!  Bake at 350˚ until lightly browned about 12 minutes.  Gently press the bottom of the hot cookie cups down into the cup to keep the cup opening as large as possible.  Leave the cookie cups in the tin to cool completely. When cool, gently twist the cookie cups and remove to a plate. 

Pick out 12 of the prettiest berries and cut them in half - the long way.  Place halves cut side down on a paper towel to absorb juice.  These will be used to decorate the top of your filled Cookie Cups.  

In a medium saucepan, combine Black Berries, Sugar (to your taste), Flour, Butter and Water.  Bring to a gentle boil and simmer for about 20 minutes.  Use a fork or potato masher to break down the berries.  Allow this mixture to cool enough so that it begins to thicken. 

I only fill the cookie cups that I am going to use soon and refrigerate the berry mixture separately until I am ready to use it.  Berry mixture will last about 3 days unrefrigerated.   Place a berry half on top of each cookie cup and sprinkle a tiny amount of sugar on top.  So Pretty!

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