By: Revanche

Foodie Friday: Potting Pies

March 12, 2010

I can’t recall how I happened across this Haven of Food Genius, but I had to try making these fantastic Pies in Jars by Our Best Bites

My process was not nearly as cute as theirs, but the formula was about the same….

Add some of this: 

to some of these (but with dough lining the jar): 
[also, in the Short/Squatty jars, not the wine bottle, that’s there for scale]
And add some cute tops: 
Run out of dough for the jars, make a tart with leftover “tops”
Accidentally burnt the bottom of this to a crisp.
Bake to Perfection! 

This was a pretty frugal treat. I bought two pounds of Granny Smiths, was able to skip the lemon as they were superpowered and never browned after peeling, slicing or dicing = $3.95.  Butter was $2, a jar of cinnamon was another $2.  Other than that, I just needed flour, brown sugar, white sugar, and salt, all of which were in the pantry.

Using the following two suggested recipes from Our Best Bites as guides, I ended up with nine jars of apple pies, and two small pie-like tart things.


Pastry: yields 3 jars worth
1 1/4c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 c.+ 1 Tbsp. butter-flavored shortening
Ice water (probably about 1/4 c.)


Apple Pie: yielded 9 jars worth
6 cups peeled, sliced Granny Smith apples (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 Tbsp. butter, chopped
   *I just did a butter wash and sprinkled sugar on the crust.  Also dribbled some of the butter through the vents.

If you don’t factor in the manual labor, at a dollar a jar plus the cost of foodstuffs, this could potentially be a great frugal holiday gift. Since they’re made for freezing and baking in the jars, they could be made well ahead of time in batches.  

12 Responses to “Foodie Friday: Potting Pies”

  1. L.A. Daze says:

    This looks so good! Where did you get all the little jars from?

  2. Mrs. Micah says:

    I happen to have a few of those jars from small jams & preserves and the like. Definitely going to make this, maybe not until the fall though.

  3. Carolyn says:

    Omg these are SO CUTE!!!!!!

  4. that’s super cute!! love the idea!

  5. savings says:

    Those look delicious! I saw a recipe for that a while back, and have been wanting to try it. This would be a cute hostess gift, or a favor for Thanksgiving or the 4th!

  6. How lovely! Wonder if you could sell these at a farmer’s market…

  7. Love them. I will be trying them later in the year.

  8. eemusings says:

    *drools

    Lady, you’re killing me!

    What a great idea for holiday presents. I’ll be hitting you up for the recipe come December!

  9. Oh my goodness, I definitely need to make these. Thanks for sharing!

  10. This is AWESOME. I’ll trade you a jar pie for um…honey buns??

  11. Revanche says:

    @L.A.Daze: I bought them from a grocery store, but my friend had told me to go to a hardware store.

    @Mrs. Micah: And remember to take pictures!

    Remember that you can bake it with the lid off if you want.

    @Carolyn, The Asian Pear, Saving Cents in the City: 🙂

    @Savings: I know! I can’t wait to make a lot more, though the jars will cost a bit. I need to find a more cost effective set of jars.

    @Funny About Money: Hadn’t even thought about that … I assume you need a vendor’s license of some sort.

    @Converting a Spendthrift: Hope you do!

    @eemusings, RainyDaySaver: Let me know if you try them. They’re delicious!

    @Rina: Done! 🙂

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