Single-Serving Apple Pie in a Mason Jar

My favorite board on Pinterest is the one I’ve been building that features the “Versatile Canning Jar.”

At first, I thought the pins would mostly be of jars used as farmer-chic drink vessels, crafts or for homemade food gifts.

But it turns out Mason jars, the revolutionary invention of Jersey-born John Landis Mason in the 1850s, can be used like any other oven-safe dish. (Check out, “Who Made That Mason Jar?” in the New York Times.) After all, the clear threaded jars were made to withstand boiling hot temps.

And they’re a great size for serving up made-to-order, single-serving baked goods.

I’ve been delighted to discover a whole subset of recipes just for baking pies, cakes and chilies in 4-16 ounce glass jars.

Today, I tried single-serving apple pies in 1/2 pint jars.

Because this was a first attempt, I went the easy route and used prepared pied dough and canned apple pie filling.

My results were delicious. That’s not to say all went perfectly. On other blogs, especially these beauties on Our Best Bites, I saw photos of beautifully prepared jar pies that turned out picture perfect.

Mine overflowed and, in one, burst through the lattice top.

Part of my issue is I didn’t use wide-mouth jars. Clearly, I need to increase my canning jar inventory (Note to family: Mother’s Day is coming up) with which to experiment.

NOTE: I should warn that these babies are hot as Hades and take quite a while to cool. My son couldn’t wait, so he suited up (with oven mitts) and dove right in.

Also, if you don’t eat the crust out of the jars, they’ll need quite a bit of soaking to get them clean.