Peaches 'n Cream Pie Cups

This dessert is why I love peach season.  It's similar to a fresh strawberry pie because you make a gelatin to mix with fresh peaches, but this also has a cream layer.  The original recipe was for a full pie, but I like more crust so I came up with these pie cups.  It may seem like a lot of work by the way I wrote my instructions, but they're easy.  Make them on a Sunday afternoon or when you have a little more time.  I hope you like them as much as I do!

RECIPE

1 box prepared pie crusts

1 C. water, divided

3/4 C. sugar
 1/4 C. cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

2 TBL orange jell-o (powder)

1/4 C. + 1 tsp lemon juice
 6 oz cream cheese

1/3 C. powdered sugar

2 1/2 C fresh peaches- (peeled and cut into bite sized pieces)

* Roll the pie crusts out and use a bowl or cup with a 4 1/2" opening to cut 12 'mini' circles (I got 4 mini circles from each crust, then put the scraps together and rolled it out so I could get four more).  Make 3 pleats in each mini circle and place in a muffin tin (see picture below).  Poke holes in the crust and bake at 425 for 7-8 minutes (until golden brown on the edges).  Move the 'cups' to a wire rack to cool completely.  In a medium saucepan, bring 1/2 C. water to a boil.  In a separate bowl, mix 1/2 C. cold water, sugar, cornstarch and salt together.  Add to the boiling water and whisk constantly until thickened, about 3 minutes (turn down the heat when it starts to thicken).  Add the jell-o and simmer another minute.  Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 C. lemon juice.  Leave it on a hot pad and stir it often to release the heat- you want it to cool to room temperature.  While it's cooling, peel and cut the peaches into bite sized pieces.  When the jello is cooled, mix in the peaches.  In a food processor, mix the cream cheese, powdered sugar and 1 tsp lemon juice together.  Fill each pie cup 1/3 full with the cream cheese, then top with the peach/gelatin.  Refrigerate until the gelatin has set.  Enjoy!

Tips

• I put the cream cheese mixture in a Ziploc bag and piped it into the cups.
• Put the gelatin in the fridge to help it cool faster- be careful though, you don't want it to set up before you've poured it into the pie cups.
• I tried using peach flavored jell-o and didn't like it.  It may seem weird to mix orange flavor with the peach, but it's really good.  I have a sister that doesn't like peaches, so she tried strawberry jell-o and fresh strawberries- be creative!
• I tried making my own pie crust, and decided store bought was much easier to work with and still tasted great.  Keep things simple.
• Here's what my pan looked like before baking-just tuck those circles in- they don't have to be perfect:  Don't forget to poke holes in the crust before baking!