I woke up this morning with a mentality of kitchen play. I had a lot of fruits in the fridge and always a pantry full of baking ingredients. My idea was to make pies in jars because I had a lot of mason jars just lying around in the garage. I set everything up–mise en place and was rearing to go. First up, the fillings. I sliced, diced and mixed in the fruits with along with the filling ingredients. Second, the pie crust. I was excited to try a new recipe 
for this crust, which I will share with you in a little bit. Next up, the mason jar. Well, I didn’t exactly have the correct size, but I figured, eh…I can make it work.
All good and ready to go…
pie filling CHECK;
pie crust CHECK;
mason jars CHECK;
baking pan CHECK
…until I started to mold the pie crust and place it inside the mason jars.
I couldn’t get my hand to fit all the way to the bottom of the jar…LOL! I know, I know…I should have known better. So onto plan B. Broke out the mini tart pans and I was back in business.
And so, my attempt for cutesie mason jar pies will have to wait for another day. Meanwhile, I still had great fun making these accidental pies, as I now call them.
Ingredients
Pie crust
-1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
-1/8 teaspoon salt
-1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature soft (or melted)
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt, mix well (I normally place everything in a board and do my mixing there–this is optional).
2. Add the butter and mix.
3. Set aside until ready for use.
NOTE: If you are making a 9-inch pie crust, press the dough into a 9-inch pie pan all the way up the sides. This is a soft dough. If it sticks to your hands, wet them a bit. Scallop the top edge by pinching it all the way around.
Fillings
-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
For this recipe, I had three different fruits at home–1 large granny smith apple (cored, peeled and diced); 2 small peaches (remove seed, peeled and diced) and 1 cup red currants (remove from vein)
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees if you’re baking them immediately. Bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.
Directions:
1. Combine the ingredients with fruit through flour. Set aside.
2. I had six mini tart pans, so for each one, I press the dough in each pan all the way up the sides, then scalloped the edges all the way around.
3. Place about 2/3 cup of filling in each pan
4. Use the remaining pie crust and shape it to fit the top of each pan. It does not have to be a perfectly round shape top crust, nor does it have to cover the entire top pan. You actually want to have some fruits around the edges showing to achieve a rustic look.
By the way, I also played around with sprinkles, too! Bon Appetit!–gcc