Baked strawberry pie

The Chefs:

So I had never had strawberry pie baked before, only fresh. But, K insisted that we we make a strawberry pie with a lattice crust. So we went off to my first trip to the commissary (I'm certain not my last.) We got everything we needed and this is the pie that came out (and boy was it delicious!)

Baked Strawberry Pie

2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts
1 1/4 cups white sugar (I did less sugar, probably 3/4 cup and it *might* have made the pie runny rather than syurpy, I'm not sure)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 cups fresh strawberries
2 tablespoons butter

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Place one crust in a nine inch pie pan.
Mix together sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Mix lightly through the berries. Pour filling into pastry lined pan, and dot fruit with butter. Cover with top crust, and cut slits in the top. Seal and flute the edges.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the crust is slightly browned.
See, easy peasy! 

AND: Here's the amazing pie crust recipe that we used (I can't tell you how tempted I was to just grab a pillsbury crust)

2 1/2 c pastry flour

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 c shortening

8-10 Tbsp ice cold water

Combine flour and salt in mixing bowl

Cut in shortening with a pastry blender till pea sized

Sprinkle 6 Tbsp water over flour, tossing lightly with a fork or rubber scraper. Add remaining water 1 Tbsp at a time, tossing with fork and press to side of bowl till all moistened. 

Divide dough in half and gently pat into 2 lightly flattened balls. 

And Success! It was a beautiful pie (considering help from a ten year old) AND it was delicious (despite being slightly soggy.)

Everything's better with pie!

Have you ever seen these jars?

I must admit, I hadn't, until recently on one of my favorite blogs, Our Best Bites. You see, I blog stalk when I'm bored. And I "goodie lust." Then someday I make the things I goodie lust after. This is the story of the cutest presents ever. (Note: You can also use 'regular' tall skinny jars for this too-- see photo below)


You see I have the best institute teacher ever. And my language of love is baking. So my friend S and I decided to make her a present. They turned out to be way less labor intensive than I thought they would be.


Single Serving Pie in a Jar
(Recipe found here at Our Best Bites)
This may seem daunting, but seriously, these are so easy!
Take your favorite pie crust recipe (or just use a pre-made pie crust). There is no rolling required, you just take pinches of  the dough and press it into the jar, filling it almost up to the top.
Then fill it with 1/2 cup of your favorite pie filling or the following recipe:


2 C prepared fruit (pitted, diced, peeled, etc.)
2 T sugar- brown or white (use more or less depending on sweetness of fruit)
2 T flour- (again, more if your fruit is super juicy like cherries, less if it's pretty dry)
1 T butter (divided between the pies)
Seasonings/flavorings- cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and almond extract, citrus zest etc)


(I did half apple (with cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves) and half blueberry (frozen berries and almond extract) Delish!)


You can cover with a top crust (use the jar lid as a template for that), or you can do a mini lattice,

 OR you can do a crumb topping (my personal favorite!) 


Crumb Topping (for 4-6 pies)
1/4C brown sugar
1/4 C flour
2 T oats
1/4 T cinnamon
3 T cold butter
Combine sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter. Add oats and stir to combine.

Now here's the great part! You have two options:


1- Put the lids on your jars, then pop them in the freezer. Now they're perfect for when you need a pie, when you need a present, or just for fun. When you're ready to bake them, take the lids off, then stick them on a cookie sheet and bake at 375* for 50-60 minutes till the tops are brown and the fillings are bubbly. 
2- Bake right away! Just stick your pies on a cookie sheet, and bake at 375* for 45 minutes.  

Enjoy on it's own, with whipped cream or with ice cream. Because after all; Everything's better with Pie!

(PS: I apologize for picture quality. I forgot my camera at home and thus these are stolen from my awesome friend's cell phone)