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
Mason Jar Pies Makes 8 (4 oz) Pies
For Paula’s 2 ingredient Cherry Pie in a Jar, click here!
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
– 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!
FoodBabbles 
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. 😉
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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
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!
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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.
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.
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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.
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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.
Several of the comments talk about sealing and freezing the pies. But the pictures all show the pies sticking above the rim of the jar. How do you put the lid on, if the crust is above the jar rim?
Great question! You would actually seal and freeze the pies before you bake them. Then when you want a sweet little something, just pop them out of the freezer and bake as instructed. You don’t even need to defrost them. Then you’ll get pretty little pies, possibly with the crust a little above the jar rim. Let me know if you have any other questions! Always happy to help. Hope you enjoy them should you decide to make them. I always have them in my freezer now for a midnight snack or an impromptu dessert when unexpected company comes.