mason jar pies

Thanksgiving is right around the corner (literally!) and that means it’s pie season.

Do you ever wonder how certain foods and flavors become associated with different holidays? Why is pie the popular dessert for Thanksgiving?

Yeah, I think about random stuff like that sometimes.

Anyway, I came across these adorable individual pies in half pint jars and really wanted to try them (because, let’s face it, anything in a mason jar is automatically better).

I ended up making little apple pies, pumpkin pies, and yellow cakes with chocolate frosting (since some people just don’t appreciate pies). I gave most of them away to several ladies that I wanted to show my gratitude towards, but there were enough left over for Mike and I to both try all three kinds and they all turned out great! I think the apple pie might have been my favorite.

I made them the day before I handed them out and screwed the lid down tight while the pies were still hot (for the cake I had to wait until they cooled so I could frost them, then put the lids on), and they actually sealed down tightly, just like when you can! I could hear all the lids popping in the kitchen (if you've ever canned then you know what I mean). They're obviously not going to be shelf-stable as long as something that's actually canned, but I can speak from experience that they're at least good for several days out of refrigeration (we had a couple pumpkin pies sitting on the counter for awhile).

If you're in charge of bringing dessert to Thanksgiving dinner this year, these would be easy to make ahead of time so you can be relaxed in the days leading up to the meal!

Be sure to check out the original post from Our Best Bites with full instructions; and if you decide to make little pumpkin pies, be really diligent about keeping an eye on them, the timing can be tricky!

Now, I used to be really intimidated by pie crust, but no longer! Want a simple pie crust recipe that never lets me down? Check out my pie crust recipe //here// and remember the two tricks are to handle the dough as little as possible, and use ice water! Simple as that. ;)