50 DIY Days with The Curly Cues: Pies in a Jar

Day 33: Hello! Chelsea from The Curly Cues here! I am so excited to be guest posting on Chelsey’s blog (I have a special place in my heart for people with that name.) (I apologize in advance for my excessive use of parentheses.)

TINY PIE IN A JAR: What the What?

I found this incredible article on baking tiny personal sized pies in mason jars here and knew I had to try it. I made these as holiday gifts for my coworkers (I hope you guys aren’t reading this… if so, SURPRISE! Get back to work.)

 {Mmmmm, tiny pie.}

First: You need dough for the pie crust. Here is an awesome recipe, or you can just be lazy save time like me and (gasp!) buy pie dough at the store!

Second: Set aside dough for pie toppers. Roll out a small amount of dough (at least a bit larger than the mouth of the jar) and use the jar lids to trace a circle. Set aside for use later. (I know you can hardly wait right?)

Third: Line the inside of each jar evenly with the remaining pie dough. No rolling required, just break it into small bits and press around the inside! Easy peasy. 

**Special tip: on my first attempt I made the crust a but thick, which my husband described as “too crusty”… as in the crust-to-filling ratio was off. A thin layer is all you need.**

Fourth: The fun part! Fill your dough-lined jars with 1/2 cup of the pie filling of your choice. I chose apple and cherry, but I think any filling would work. Here are the recipes I used/planned to use (Thanks Martha!):

Apple Pie Filling:

**Note: I didn’t have any nutmeg or cloves. You know what I did have?Pumpkin Pie Spice. Yum. It has nutmeg and cloves in it, score!**

In a large bowl, combine apples, sugar, lemon zest and juice,spices, and flour. Toss well.

{If you are like me, apples are most efficiently peeled while watching the Parenthood you DVRed Tuesday night.}

Cherry Pie Filling:

In a largebowl, combine cherries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice;toss until cherries are coated.

**Oh wait, you noticed that can of “Cherry Pie Filling” in the picture above? Yeah, I couldn’t find any cherries. Apparently they are “out of season” in Washington. Whatever… cans are cheaper, easier, fine.**

Fifth: Time to get creative with your pie topper. Basically you just need a vent for the steam, so anything from simple slits to pretty cut-outs will do. Or try out a tiny lattice top like I did for your cherry pie.

 {This part was so fun. I got pie punches from Williams-Sonoma. I’m fancy.}

Once you have completed your topper, place it in your jar making sure the edges run up the sides a bit and seal it with the rest of the dough using a fork (or your finger!). Then brush the top with butter and sprinkle with sugar, yum!

Sixth: Freeze or Bake. You can pop the lids on the jars and toss (gently people, they are glass) in the freezer until you are ready.

But, lets be serious for a second, you are not going to want to put these in the freezer, you are going to want to eat them. Pre-heat your oven to 375 (if you are worried about the glass in the oven you can always put them in as it preheats to let them heat up slowly. I had no problem, these are very durable jars.) If baking from frozen it takes 50-60 min, baking them fresh (which I am sure you are doing) takes about 45 min.

Now just dress them up however you like (maybe using these free printable gift tags) and they are ready for the gifting. I recommend NOT gifting them and just eating them straight out of the jar.

{Lily agrees. So much for for the Christmas spirit.}

This one just went straight into my belly.

Happy holidays everyone!

Thank you SO much to Chelsea from The Curly Cues! What a LOVELY guest post. I LOVE PIE! Thank you for joining my 50 DIY Days of Christmas!

50 DIY Days: