Pumpkin Pie in a Jar

There has been a bit of a fad in the jar world: baking individual pies and cakes in 8 ounce, wide-mouth jars. They are quite cute, but I had no real reason to try the project, until this week. I wanted Thanksgiving on the go, with easy leftovers, so I made individual pumpkin pies in jars. And I must say, that while I’m not likely to make fancy pies in jars, I will make these again. Not only do they pack well in lunches, but they are also pre-portioned, which has so far kept me from overeating my favorite pie.

You will need:

• your favorite piecrust
• your favorite pumpkin pie filling (filling for one pie makes approx. 8 jars)
• 8 ounce, wide-mouth jars with rings and lids
• jelly roll pan

Method:

Prepare your favorite piecrust, but don’t roll it out. (My favorite part of this recipe? You don’t have to roll out the dough and get flour all over your kitchen). Using one pinch of dough at a time, press the dough into the jar in an even layer. There is no need to grease the jar, it will release on it’s own. Make sure you get the dough to the top of the jar. I left mine fairly rustic, without making a pinched edge, but you can pinch the edge, just add a roll of dough along the top edge and pinch as you would a full-sized piecrust.

Place the jars on a jellyroll pan and pour in the pie filling, about ¾ full. You’ll use about ½ cup of filling per jar. I placed my silicon baking mat on the jellyroll pan first to keep the jars from moving on the pan.

You can put rings and lids on the jar at this point and freeze the pies for later, or bake them according to the recipe. I thought the jars might take less cooking time, but their seems to be no difference in cook time for jars. The crust will brown slightly.

When the pies are done, place the jars on a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before putting the rings and lids on for storage. Individual pies can easily be added to a lunch bag, and even warmed up before eating. I’m a fan.

Next I might try individual pecan pies. Mmmmm…