Lately, on more than one occasion I’ve read about or heard mention of things baked in mason jars. I’ve read about cupcakes, cobblers, even quick breads. The idea of having the perfect personal portion to pop into the oven seems so genius to me. Then I heard about pies baked in little jars and I was sold! I absolutely needed to give this concept a try.
Recently one of my favorite food bloggers, Paula from Bell’Alimento created a post on Babble which was a pint size (actually a half pint, technically) cherry pie. She used a refrigerated pie crust and canned cherry pie filling which couldn’t have been any easier! In just a short time and with minimal effort… Viola! Pie!
I went ahead and gave Paula’s two ingredient pie in a jar a try. I also created a mini version of my Dutch Apple Pie. I skipped the crumb topping that I normally make and went with a top crust in this case however, I think a crumb topping on these little pies would be delicious also. When summer arrives, I’m definitely going to make mini peach pies. I can’t wait! HB already put her vote in for blueberry pie the next time we make these. The miniature pie possibilities are endless!
In no time at all, I had a bunch of little personalized pies ready to go into the oven… or the freezer. Yes, you can create these pies in their jars then pop the lids on and into the freezer they go. The next time your sweet tooth demands a little something, just take a pie out of the freezer and bake. Also, what a great quick dessert idea to have in your freezer for unexpected dinner guests! Oh, and no plates to wash… You can just eat these little delights right out of their jar.
Enjoy!
~K
Little pies made in mason jars for the perfect personal portion.
Ingredients
- 8 (4 oz.) glass canning jars
- 2 refrigerated pie crusts
- 2 apples
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 c. sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- dash of nutmeg
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 1 Tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees if you're baking them immediately.
- Combine the ingredients apples through flour. Set aside.
- Roll out the dough a little bit. Using the top of one of the jars, cut out 8 dough circles and set them aside.
- Press pieces of the remaining dough into the jars to form a crust inside the jar.
- Fill the pie crust with a few tablespoons of your desired filling. Top each pie with a small pat of butter.
- From the reserved pie discs, cut a few slits to allow the pie to vent or use a small decorative cutter to cut out a small design.
- Top the pies with the discs and crimp the sides. Then you're ready to bake or freeze!
- If baking immediately, bake at 375 for 35 minutes.
- If baking a frozen pie, place the pies in a deep baking dish and place the dish into a cold oven. Turn the oven to 375 degrees and bake for 45 minutes or until crust is golden and filling is bubbly.
- Enjoy!
Notes
If baking, consume within 2-3 days and keep refrigerated. If freezing, assemble and do not bake them. Simply freeze them until you're ready to consume them and bake them at that time.
{ 67 comments… read them below or add one }
I love that you can freeze them for a sweet tooth fix at a later date. I do a lot of canning so I have tons of jars but have yet to make pie in a jar. Putting this on the to do list.
It really is fantastic! I love the freezing too… So convenient. Pie anytime!
They are outstanding! Love love love the no plate thing 😉
Anything that gets you out of doing dishes 😉 xoxo
That is just cute as heck. This makes me want to dig my jar out from under the counter. 😉
This is the cutest idea I have ever seen. Going to give it a try!!!
Thanks so much Melissa!! Hope you like them
these would be so cute for a bridal shower, I’ll have to give it a try
My daughter had jar pies instead of wedding cake! It was spectacular!
It’s really such a neat way to serve pie 🙂 What a great idea for a wedding!!
I started reading about these wonderful little pies and got a great idea. My son is in the Army in Afghanistan. We made a dozen of them, apple, peach, cherry and blueberry. We heard that it can take up to 5 weeks to get a care package over there, so we canned them to seal them after they backed. Because the jars are so small, they were easy to cushion in the shipment. They arrived intact, and perfectly sealed. He said they were delicious and a huge hit with everyone. We’re going to make more for the next care package shipment.
What a wonderful idea, Susie!! I’m so thrilled that you were able to make them and ship them over there with no issues. I’m sure that little comfort from home truly was a huge hit with them. What a warm and thoughtful addition to your care package for your son.
how did you can them so you could ship them? I would LOVE to learn how to do this! Thank you!
Hi Jolene! So glad you like these little mason jar pies. I actually didn’t can them or ship them anywhere. I’ve only made them for family and friends or for ourselves and frozen them. If you wanted to ship them somewhere I don’t think any canning process would be necessary as long as you shipped them packed in dry ice and sent them overnight. That should do the trick!
Thank you bunches, I will look into that!
how did u keep them from going bad? U cooked them first or what? Sounds like great ide for me college kids, Thanks
Terry, you can either bake them right when you make them or you can freeze them. Then when you want to eat them, just pop them in the oven and enjoy!
i want to do a canning jar wedding favor and i was thinking about pies!
since i have never done this, could I make the pies without baking them and freeze them, then give to the guests as favors with directions on baking? or should i bake them first, freeze them and let them eat whenever they want? Im not sure!
I would put them together, freeze them and give them to guests with instructions for baking. I think if you were to bake them ahead of time and then freeze them you may end up with mushy crust. Hope this helps! Love the idea of using these as wedding favors. Good luck!!
Thanks! I wasn’t sure if freezing them before baking them would do anything negative. I didn’t think so but I wanted to make sure 🙂
This is definitely one of my options
Do any fruit pie fillings work at baking at 35 mins at 375F degrees? Can you also use the 8 oz wide mouth/band mason jars?
Hi Rose, I have made peach, blueberry, apple, and cherry. They all worked at 35 mins 375 degrees. I would think any pie filling would work with that time and temp but not having tried others, I can’t tell you 100%. Don’t want to steer you in the wrong direction. I also have only used 4 oz mason jars so I’m not sure how your baking time might change with an 8 oz jar.
I followed the recipe, but with 8oz jars. They work wonderfully, and came out the same as the 4oz ones! 🙂
So glad to hear you had a good experience with these little pies!
If you are going to freeze the pies in the jars, do you fill the jars (after sanitizing them), when they are cool, since your ingredients you are putting in the jars are cool?
I filled them when they were cool.
I have seen the pies in a jar on a lot of military mom pages and what they do is bake the pie and put the top and screw on lid on the jar as soon as they take it out of the oven. Seals itself and you are good to ship – just make sure you cool completely before putting in the box and use plenty of cushion!
That’s such a wonderful idea! What an incredibly nice way to send a homemade “taste of home.” I have to imagine all those brave people of our military are thrilled when they get their little mini-pies.
so my question is, do i put the top right after they come out of the oven or do i wait until they are cooled off? i want to make some for my deployed husband.
I haven’t ever mailed them so I’m not sure how they’ll keep. Nor have I have tried to store them after baking. Sorry!! I’ve assembled them prior to baking and frozen them at that point, to be baked later. I would think if you put the top on after they come out of the oven, it may seal the tops much like canning but the crust may get soggy. If you were to wait until they cool, I think your pie will stay crisp for a short time. Either way, I’m not sure how long they would stay fresh unrefrigerated. I wish I could be more helpful.
In order to properly seal them you put the lid on as soon as they come out of the oven. Put the lids and rings in hot water and then screw them on, as the jars cool they will seal themselves and you can check the seal to make sure its good. there shouldn’t be any give in the metal lid:)
Great idea-I really like the idea of individual servings where the filling doesn’t spill out. Love it for summer parties, especially loved the idea of sending them to our troops overseas! Thanks for this 🙂
Thanks so much, Barbara! It really is such a nice little treat that is so convenient to pop into the oven any time.
I loved making these! After I made them (12), 2 went into the oven, 2 went to the fridge and the rest (like 8) went to the freezer. I just the regular mason tops for the freezer pies – no prolem. I followed all the directions and no matter where the pies came from (just made, fridge or freezer) they were all alike – delicious and GONE! I am thinking of making a TON of them for a graduation party – wouldn’t that be cool? Thank you so much for this idea!
Note: Summer and Teens: If you plan on making these pies, do it in the morning when the teens are all asleep! That way you might get one to yourself!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them Paige!! Thank you so much for taking the time to comment and leaving your feedback. I always like to hear about readers experiences.
When you take the jars out of the freezer to bake, do they need to come to room temp? I’m wondering about putting cold jars in a hot oven. Thanks.
If baking a frozen pie, place the pies in a deep baking dish and place the dish into a cold oven. Turn the oven to 375 degrees and bake for 45 minutes or until crust is golden and filling is bubbly. By putting the frozen jars in the oven as it preheats, the jars will warm up slowly so they won’t break. This method has worked 100% of the time for me. Hope you like them!
This is abundantly more helpful as I found a couple articles on Pinterest and the like that didn’t go into such detail. I want to make these for a baby shower but my problem is that the mason jars I want to use have had some reviews about breaking. The baby-to-be is named Mason so I wanted the Golden Harvest jars because they say “Mason” on them and have a cornucopia (the shower is Thanksgiving weekend to accomodate out of town guests). I am wondering what brand of jars you used and where you purchased them, and if you think I could still get the jars I want with the assumption they were not properly heated, causing the breakage.
Thank you!
Hi Jenn! For this particular project I used Ball jars since that was what was available to me at the time but I personally, wouldn’t have hesitated to use Mason jars. I cannot attest to their durability in the oven since I haven’t personally baked anything in that brand jars. I purchased my jars at Wegmans grocery store. Hope this is helpful to you. If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask!
Regarding preparing these to send:
Has anyone tested out what happens if after baking these, you then put them through the canning process in boiling water?
If you just put the lids on when they are hot, will they then adequately preserved so that they can keep in a pantry for a couple of months? Or, are they just adequately preserved for a short shipment time and then should be stored in the freezer or fridge?
Hi Bibi and thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, I have not tried actually canning these little pies and I cannot attest to if they will be preserved merely by placing the lids on while hot. I have only ever canned once so I can’t shed any light on your question. I’m so sorry that I can’t be more helpful but canning is definitely not my area of expertise. If you do find out the answer though, I would love if you would share it here for my own knowledge as well as for other readers who may have the same question. Thanks and good luck!
how long do they last after you bake them do you have to refrigerate them if not eaten in one sitting and how long do they last in the freezer???
After you bake them, I would refrigerate them and consume within 2-3 days. Frozen, 3 months.
ok so im so confused…. I baked some for a christmas eve party and i put the lids on as soon as they came out of the oven but now im not sure if i should freeze them or refrigerate or what???? please help
I’m so sorry you’re confused Chelsea but hopefully I can help! 🙂 If you’ve already baked them they will stay fresh in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. I have not tried freezing them once baked but in my experience I would venture to say you can freeze the baked pies for up to 3 months with no issue the thaw the day before you’d like to eat them. Then just pop them in the oven to warm them back up. I would only be a little concerned that the crust may not be as “crusty.” As I said, any time I’ve frozen these pies it has been before they were baked and I’ve baked them the day that they were to be consumed.
I love your pies. I’m a big jar fan. I bake in jars and freeze in jars. I was always told that there needed to be an inch of space in order to lid and freeze for safety reasons. Otherwise it might explode. I’m wondering if I can just make the pies more shallow, because I really like the freezing idea.
Thank so much Angela! You could certainly make the pies just a bit more shallow. I can’t attest to the need for an inch of space or not. I made mine as you see pictured and froze several of them before baking and had no issues with baking but definitely better safe than sorry!
I was wondering if you can use canned pie filling to make this even easier. Has anyone tried canned pie filling?
Yes Robin! Absolutely! You can fill the pies however you like. I actually used canned cherry pie filling for the cherry one. So go for it!
Hi, loved the idea, they are really cute and very practical. Are they normal jars? If not, where do I buy them? I thought they would break in the oven with the heat.
I used ball jars, but mason jars would work also. Any sort of canning jar will do the trick 🙂 You can buy them in most grocery stores or online as well. As far as baking with them, they won’t break in the oven. If you’re baking them immediately there is no issue at all. If the uncooked pies are frozen and then baked in the oven, just follow the instructions in the post and there should be no issues. Hope you like them Helene!
I bought the 8 ounce jars and will leave room to top the pies off with a scoop of ice cream. The ideas are endless with these pies.
Great idea! Nothing better than pie and ice cream 😉
This is such a great idea! I’m doing a potluck picnic Wedding weekend party for my daughter and I’m preparing picnic baskets for guests. This is such perfect! I’m wondering what other recipes you might have for pre-assembled frozen Mason jars? Especially something that’s good eaten room temperature … as the kids will be taking these to the beach, etc. ???
A potluck picnic for a wedding weekend! Ooo! This sounds like such great fun! This is the only thing I’ve ever made in mason jars. But this is a great Pinterest board that I love. Tons of ideas of things to make in jars. http://pinterest.com/laurasrecipes/fun-food-in-jars/ Hope this helps and have a wonderful wedding weekend!!
Do I understand that you do not have to take these standing in a pan of water? A website dedicated to baking with Mason jars says you are not to place them directly into the oven without putting them in water.
That’s a great question Gloria. I hadn’t read or hear of baking things in mason jars in water. I personally have never put them into water to bake but the only think I’ve baked in mason jars are pies. So for this particular recipe, no I put the mason jars directly into the oven and not in water. But now I’m so curious about this. I’ll have to look into that! Thanks Gloria.
Who knew that something so easy could be so cute! I’m loving these adorable little pies!
Thanks so much Kari! I love anything mini, handheld or single serve and other people seem to really get a kick out of having a little pie all their own. And mason jars really make them look adorable.
My man likes peach..do I ise the canned filling or canned or frozen fruit slices?
You can use any of the above, Lynn! Using canned filling would certainly be the easiest. You wouldn’t have to add anything to the filling. Just simply fill the crust and you’re good to go.
I am new at baking. This sounds wonderful, but. Do you buy the frozen pie crusts that are like 6 inches or do they come smaller?
You’ll want to buy refrigerated pie crusts (not frozen) They’ll be for a 9-inch pie which doesn’t really matter because you’ll be using the top from the mason jar to simply cut out circles to place inside the jar. Happy baking!
I have a question. Will the jar explode if it is baked? People say that only canning jars dont explode but i have mason jars.
Mason jars are fortunately, canning jars so you’ve covered all your bases 🙂 As long as you’re using a ramekin or canning jar, the jars will not explode.
I have made mini lemon meringue cup dessert in mason jars as my daughter is Celiac and was never keen on the crust even before she was diagnosed. Just get to enjoy the best part the filling. Easy to make and ready to serve in it’s own dish.
That sounds so wonderful! I’m glad you enjoyed your little lemon meringue pies. Love that variation!