Use Mason jar lids to make portion sized fruit pies like these mini pear and fig tarts!
(Note: this recipe originally appeared on Healthy Aperture.)
This time of year, my CSA share is bursting with late summer and early fall fruit. And this is when my baking turns to easy free form pies like Easy Rustic Maple Apple Pie, Plum Pear Crostata and now, this year, miniaturized desserts.
And I loved this Healthy Kitchen Hack so much, I made a video of How To Make Mini Fruit Pies with Mason Jar lids.
How To Make Mini Pies and Tarts with Mason Jar Lids
The baking trick is to use 3½-inch Mason jar lids as you would use a regular size tart pan (that’s the pan with a removable bottom) to make mini tarts. For this recipe, I used a sweeter dough similar to this German Fruit Tart but you can easily use frozen pie dough instead.
Use Mason jar lids to make portion sized fruit pies like these mini pear and fig tarts! @tspbasil Click To Tweet
As for these tarts, you not only get benefits from the better-for-you swaps I made (see below), but you’ll also impress your family and friends with the presentation. My dad actually thought these were from a bakery when I served them. #winning
Better-for-you recipe tweaks:
- Make them mini for built-in portion control
- Add some whole grain flour to the mix
- Less sugar added in the fruit topping and dough
- Almost a full serving of fruit with each tart
And the next day, I may or may not have had the leftovers for breakfast.
Mini Pear Fig Tarts
- Yield: 8 tarts 1x
Description
Use Mason jar lids to make portion sized fruit pies like these mini pear and fig tarts!
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon half & half or heavy cream
- 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons apricot preserves
- 3 pears, cored and thinly sliced
- 8 fresh figs, cut into eighths
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
Instructions
- Preheat oven 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- For the crust, beat together flours, sugar, egg, half & half and almond extract. Add 5 tablespoons of sliced butter and mix together until a sticky ball of dough forms. Refrigerate for 30 – 60 minutes.
- On a heavily floured surfaced, knead dough a few times and divide into eight balls. Pat each ball into a 4-inch circle. Place each circle in 3½-inch Mason jar lids that have been greased. Pat down and push dough up the side of the rim of each lid. Prick the bottom of each crust with a fork.
- Place each crust directly on the oven racks and bake for about 20 minutes or until the crusts’ edges start to turn golden brown.
- While tart crusts are cooking, heat 1 tablespoon butter in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once melted, whisk in apricot preserves.
- Gently add in pears, figs and thyme. Stir carefully and occasionally for 5 minutes until they are heated through and glaze starts to form on the bottom of the pan.
- Remove crusts from oven and spoon pear and fig mixture over each crust. Spoon out any extra glaze in pan and drizzle over each tart.
- Place back in oven and bake for another 5 minutes.
- Remove from oven and after cooling for a few minutes, remove the outer rim and the bottom parts of the Mason jar lids from the tarts. Plate each tart and sprinkle with extra fresh thyme leaves if desired. Serve immediately.
