This Isn't Just A New Way To Make Pie. It's The Only Way

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There's nothing quite like a piece of pie when it comes to a satisfying dessert or dinner. Whether it's classic apple pie or a chicken pot pie, they offer the crispiness of pastry with a rich filling for a comforting combination of textures and flavors. The downside is that it's not something you can throw together quickly when you need a sweet treat. That is, unless you make your pie in the air fryer. It might seem like jumping on the bandwagon to make an air fryer version of all your favorite foods, but the appliance does offer advantages over your regular oven.

The first bonus of baking pie in an air fryer is that it requires a shorter cooking time. A pie in the oven takes about an hour to bake, compared to around 20–25 minutes in an air fryer. And, even with the same amount of cooking time, an air fryer uses less energy. Cooking a personal pie or reheating a slice of leftover pie no longer seems like a waste of power.

Air fryers were sold to us as a new way to fry, but they've quickly become a new way to cook all kinds of foods, especially where a crispy exterior is required. And that texture is exactly what you want from a pie crust. This doesn't just extend to baking traditional fruit pies, but also making hand pies from scratch, mini pies for entertaining, or gloriously savory pies made with flaky phyllo pastry.

Getting the best results when making pies in an air fryer depends somewhat on the type of pie. A traditional double crust pie like cherry or chicken pot pie is absolutely possible, but you might need to reconsider the size. Unless you're the proud owner of a large family-size air fryer, you'll probably find that a 10-inch pie dish isn't going to fit. Disposable smaller-sized tin foil pie dishes like these 7-inch ones are a handy tool here.

Your own pie dough recipe or the store-bought version will both work, and you can follow the original pie recipe for the most part. Just reduce the temperature by 25 degrees Fahrenheit and the cooking time by 20%. The air fryer's crisping abilities make it ideal for blind baking a pie crust, so it's perfect for open pies like pumpkin pie or pies that don't have a baked filling like peanut butter pies.

The limited space means mini pies are an easier option for the air fryer, especially if you opt for the premade pie shells of these mini air fryer smore pies. Individual ramekins are perfect for savory pies like these luxurious seafood pies, as long as you remember the temperature and time adjustments to the recipe.

Hand pies can easily take advantage of the air fryer's quick heat-up time and low energy use. Use any scraps of leftover pie dough fashion a blueberry hand pie that can be baked in just 10 minutes, or if you have some puff pastry, give these savory sweet potato hand pies a go.