March 14 is Pi Day — the annual celebration of the mathematical constant π (3.14…) — and here at TODAY Food, we think that’s a great excuse to eat pi’s delicious homophone: We’re talking PIE! Making a pie from scratch can be a massive undertaking, and you need your dessert fix now! Here are 7 smart kitchen hacks to help you get that true pie flavor in your pie hole fast, without all the fuss.
1. No-Bake Mini Grasshopper Pies
Ground Oreos form the chocolaty “crust” for A Pretty Life in the Suburbs’ deconstructed take on the minty Southern dessert. For the silky filling, simply combine melted marshmallows with crème de menthe and airy whipped cream.
RELATED: Happy Pi Day! Mix in a little St. Patrick's Day fun into your celebration
2. Berry Crisp in a Jar
3. Mini Apple Pie in an Apple
No pie tin? No problem. A cored apple is the vessel for this genius version of the all-American classic. First, core an apple. Discard the seeds and chop the flesh into small pieces. In a bowl, combine the chopped apple with scant amounts of sugar and powdered cinnamon. Place the mixture inside the cored apple. You could make a small amount of pie crust from scratch, but here’s how to keep things extra simple: use the rim of a drinking glass to cut out a round from a prepared pie crust. Top the apple with the pie crust round and bake for about 20 minutes at 180 degrees.
4. Mini Lemon Meringue Pies
The Novice Chef creates these 10-minute wonders by filling no-bake mini phyllo shells with store-bought lemon curd, and then finishes them with a quick meringue topping.
5. 2-Minute Apple Pie Parfait
After coating chopped apple with sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch, and vanilla, Yammie’s Noshery zaps the mixture in the microwave for one minute and then tops it with store-bought granola. Note: an ice cream topping is strongly encouraged.
6. Blueberry Pie Yogurt Parfaits
This elegant and healthy version of classic blueberry pie from Mix and Stir is made with layers of a fast blueberry sauce, honey-sweetened fat free Greek yogurt, blueberry-sauce-sweetened Greek yogurt, and crumbled honey graham crackers.
7. Individual Peanut Butter Pies
My Baking Addiction’s comforting dessert has a luscious whipped-cream-and-peanut-butter filling and a crumbled Oreo crust.
This article was originally published on March 14, 2015.