There are two types of people in this world: pie lovers and liars. I LOVE pie. Pies will never make you feel lonely, tell you to get a gym membership, or hog the blankets at night. You can fill them with just about anything you want: fruits, meats, mousses, custards, creams, all of your ex-boyfriend’s things he left at your apartment... okay maybe not everything, but you get it. I like to say I’m in an “open relationship” with pie because I eat so many flavors of it. And while we’re on the subject of love and relationships, I thought, why not make a pie for Valentine’s Day?
If you remember passing out fun-sized candy for your school’s Valentine’s Day party, I have a better alternative for you! Mini pies baked inside of a mason jar lid! This is a great idea if you’re a parent with a child in elementary school who wants something better than chocolate for their Valentine’s Day party. Or maybe you’re single and eating a whole regular sized pie while watching The Bachelor makes you feel some type of way. Not like anyone here is judging you for that.
Don’t know where to find a foolproof pie dough recipe?
Don’t fret, The Chopping Block has you covered with our famous Apple Pie recipe. And if you’re much better at eating pies than making them, how about you look into our Pie & Tart Boot Camp?
Start off by making your dough in advance so it has time to chill in the fridge. Remember, these pies are tiny, so you’ll have to scale the recipe down or make a batch of dough and freeze whatever you have leftover. (If you’re in a pinch, store bought dough is fine too.)
After the dough has been made and chilled, roll it out and cut a circle that’s a little bigger than your mason jar lid.
Once you’ve finished with that step, STOP and look at your lid. It’s crucial that you pop out the circular plate and flip it over so the rubbery side is now facing the bottom. You want the bottom of your pie dough to be touching the metal side of the lid like this:
After you’ve flipped the circular plate over, fill the lid with the dough, grab a fork, and stab some ventilation holes on the bottom of your soon-to-be pie.
Once you have that, here is where you get to be creative with the filling! You can go the traditional (but delicious) apple pie route, or if you’re feeling adventurous you can be like our resident Chef Erin and make a cherry pie spiced with garam masala. I used raspberry.
After you’ve swiped right on the filling of your choice, fill the pies and follow the baking instructions for whatever pie recipe you are using. Don’t forget to coat the top of your crust with egg and slice a little hole at the top to let the steam out.
Finally, once you’ve baked and let your little pies cool down, you can pop them out of the lid as if you were using a traditional loose bottom pie pan and enjoy!
