This Recycled Life: Mini pie-in-a-jar

Because I'm a crafty person and, well, I guess a bit cheap... I'm always on the lookout for gifts that I can make myself. And no, not some kitschy knick-knack that will promptly be re-gifted or tossed out in the trash... I usually end up going with food, because who doesn't like food?! So during my last hunt I found these mini pies that you can bake right in the jar and made them for my family last Christmas and they were a big hit.

Now the original blog suggested you use the half pint jars with the wide mouths... but after scouring the city I could only find the regular mouth (just taller and skinnier). I've discovered that Ace Hardware carries them, but they're usually not in stock, so you'd have to order them online and they ship to the store for free. My mom actually found these half pint jars that have the wide mouths, but they are more beveled which might make it a bit tougher to get your spoon in there- but not too bad.

8 oz (1/2 pint) regular mouth jars

8 oz. (1/2 pint) wide mouth jars

First you need to get a simple pie crust together. You can buy the pre-made dough or I've even bought the little packets at the grocery store and you only have to add water, which is super easy! You can also make your own easy butter crust , like so...

Easy Pie Crust
1 stick butter cut into pieces
1 & 1/3 cup flour
2 Tablespoons cold water
dash of salt

in a medium sized bowl, mix flour and salt then add butter. They call this 'cutting in the butter' and you can use a pastry or dough blender, but I don't have one so I just went at it with my hands and smushed it all together until it looked like this

dough blender

Next, add the water 1 Tablespoon at a time until combined and it's ready to go!

I greased the jars a little bit with cooking spray just in case. You're supposed to be able to pop the pies out of the jars and serve them on plates, but since I love the crumb topping, I just plan on eating right out of the jar, so the spray probably isn't that necessary...

You line the jars with the dough, that's why the shorter, wider jars are better so you can get your fingers all the way to the bottom. Just take small bits and flatten them out and smush them to the bottom and sides of the jar.
(This batch of dough filled 4 jars, only one of which had a dough cover)

Next, decide on your filling. If you're lazy, or just culinarily-challenged (yes, I realize I just made up a word) you can just buy the canned filling like I did! Since I love cherry pie and cherries aren't in season, I didn't feel guilty at all! Or you can go all Betty Crocker and mix up your own pie filling. Last time, I had some apples in the house and made up my own version with some flour, sugar and cinnamon, but you can check out the original blog for more tips.

Fill the jar, but leave a good inch or so at the top for your crumb topping or else you'll overflow.

Now, you can roll out a bit of your dough and use the jar's ring as a cutter to make a cover. You'll also want to cut out a small top to act as a vent. Then press the topper into the dough already in the jar.

Or, you can mix up a batch of the crumb topping and add some to the top of the jar- again, not all the way to the top or it'll fall out as the filling bubbles.

Crumb Topping:

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

2 Tablespoons oats

1/4 Tablespoon cinnamon

3 Tablespoons butter (cut into pieces)

Mix all the ingredients together and repeat the 'cutting in' procedure. (I used my hands again)

Add topping to the filled pies, but remember not to go too close to the top or they'll overflow.

I made these little labels and stuck them on with double-sided tape so people would know how to bake them. All you do is take off the lid and pop 'em in the oven at 375 for about 45 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly! You can even freeze these and bake 'em without defrosting! (just increase the baking time to 50- 60 minutes)