My wife and I had to run to Wal-mart yesterday afternoon to pick up something for dinner and some things to put in my oldest child’s school lunches throughout the week.
While we were walking through the freezer section, my wife happened to notice frozen, individual serving fruit pies from the Marie Callender’s brand. Since we were looking for something for dessert anyway, we decided to buy a couple of these, including an apple pie for me.
This is not the first time we have had a product like this. Some time ago, we discovered fruit pies from the Banquet brand that weren’t too terrible. These were a bit more expensive (about a dollar more) but, when compared to Banquet, Marie Callender’s seems to offer a bit more quality so I was expecting more from these too.
Making these pies was pretty easy. I decided to use the microwave rather than the oven and all I had to do was open an end of the box and place the pie (box and all) in the microwave for about 6 minutes. If I would have used the oven, it would have taken about an hour (including the time it takes to pre-heat my oven).
Because I made it in the microwave, I was a bit concerned it wouldn’t come out as good as it would have if I would have baked it instead. However, that was not a problem. I’m not sure of the science they used, but the pie crust came out perfectly crispy and even flaky without being overdone. In fact, I don’t think there was any way to tell it wasn’t baked.
As far as taste goes, I did end up liking these a bit more than the Banquet pies. As I mentioned before, the crust came out perfectly and had a good taste to it (mostly because of the cinnamon) and the apple filling had just the right amount of sweetness to it. I was a bit disappointed there wasn’t a whole lot of actual fruit inside the pie. But, even without that, it was a very filling dessert. I couldn’t even make it through the whole thing.
Overall, I do think I’m happy with this purchase. As I said before, they are a bit more expensive than the Banquet pies, but there’s just enough quality to make them worth the extra money. If you are looking for something for dessert, I recommend giving one of these a try.