Name: Free-form Fruit and Nut Pies
Ingredients: ¾ cup pine nuts, plus 2 tablespoons more for topping; ¼ cup sugar; ¾ cup all-purpose flour; 1 tablespoon stone-ground cornmeal (yellow or white); pinch fine salt; 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, sliced; 1 large egg; 1 cup fruit jam or preserves; 1 large egg yolk

Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Free-form Fruit and Nut Pies

Oven375°F

Timeabout 30 minutes

Ingredients

¾ cup pine nuts, plus 2 tablespoons more for topping
¼ cup sugar
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon stone-ground cornmeal (yellow or white)
pinch fine salt
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, sliced
1 large egg
1 cup fruit jam or preserves
1 large egg yolk

Directions

Prepare the dough

Toast all the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring, until evenly brown and fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Pulse the ¾ cup cool pine nuts and sugar in a food processor until finely ground, about 15 times.
Add the flour, cornmeal, salt, and butter and pulse until combined, about 10 more times.
Add the egg and pulse until mixture comes together in a soft dough, about 5 times.

Shape the crusts

Lay out an 8 by 11-inch sheet of waxed or parchment paper.
Divide dough equally into 6 balls and place on the paper, leaving at least 4 inches between each.
Press down lightly to make even disks, and cover with another sheet of paper.
With a rolling pin lightly roll over the entire sheet to make rounds about 5 inches in diameter.
Slide paper onto a baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 3 days.
Remove top sheet of paper and cut the parchment into 6 squares (around the dough circles).

Fill and bake

Place 2 heaping tablespoons of jam on each circle and spread it evenly with the back of a spoon over the crust, leaving a 1½-inch border around the edges.
Fold and loosely pleat the dough over the edge of the jam, to make a rustic free-form pie. Use the edge of the parchment or a bench scraper to lift the edges of dough over; it's easier that way.
Repeat with the remaining disks.
Whisk the egg yolk with a teaspoon of water and brush over the edges of the crusts with it.
Sprinkle remaining pine nuts onto the egg wash.
Refrigerate pies for 30 minutes.
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375°F.
Bake pies until golden brown, about 30 minutes.
Let set for 5 minutes before transferring with the paper onto a rack to cool.
Serve warm or at room temperature, with ice cream, whipped cream or yogurt, if desired.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

875Calories

23 gProtein

37 gFat

112 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 8 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Pine Nut	1 oz (28g)	191
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Topping	not in our table	0
Fruit	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Pine + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together302 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Nuts + flourtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,180 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Pine + buttertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together358 recipes

Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).
Pine + nutstop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Pine nuts: Toasting deepens their flavour, and ground nuts give the crust its nutty body and tenderness.
All-purpose flour: Provides the structure that holds the soft dough together around the filling.
Cold unsalted butter: Cold fat creates flaky layers and a tender, crumbly crust as it melts in the oven.
Egg: Binds the dough so it comes together and adds richness and structure.
Fruit jam or preserves: Supplies the sweet, fruity filling that sets as the pie bakes.
Sugar: Sweetens the crust and promotes browning as it bakes.

The step that matters

Pressing and folding the dough over the jam. Leaving a 1½-inch border and pleating it loosely keeps the jam contained while the dough bakes; overfilling or stretching the dough can let jam leak and tear the crust.

Swap the nuts

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pine, sugar, flour, butter, egg):

Almondfits better
Pistachiofits better
Chestnutfits better
Nutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pine, sugar, flour, butter, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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Free-form Fruit and Nut Pies