RITZ® Mock Apple Pie

[ipsedixit]

I just tried this recipe for mock apple pie from the Kraft website. http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/...

And to my surprise it's actually quite good; in fact, it's very good. Almost makes me wonder if I ever need to use apples again ...

One downside to this mock pie ... no aromatic apple smell wafting through the kitchen.

Any other mock fruit pies out there?

[The Dairy Queen]

Oh, I forgot--German Chocolate Sauerkraut Cake--people think they're eating coconut. This recipe, for example:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/German-C...

~TDQ

[The Dairy Queen]

The Milwaukee Sentinal Journal just did a piece on this. http://www.jsonline.com/features/food...

They list Mock Pistachio Ice Cream (the pistachio mimicked by almond & vanilla extract+green food coloring), Mock Chicken Salad (tuna--rinsed with boiling water-- instead of chicken), and Mock Rolls (rolls using less sugar--doesn't seem very mock to me). They also mention mock crab (cheese+anchovy paste), mock cherry pie (raisins and cranberries), mock olives (unripe plums), mock maple syryup (brown sugar and water), ...well, it goes on.

~TDQ

[The Dairy Queen]

Here's a recipe I ran across, "Zapple" pie, which uses zucchini instead of apples to make a mock apple pie. I've never tried it.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Zucchini...

~TDQ

[MacGuffin]

I LOVE mock apple pie although I realize that it's completely unhealthful. It's cheaper, though, to make it with supermarket brand crackers rather than Ritz (I've even seen recipes that use soda crackers although I've never tried them). I don't actually like fruit pies and think that slicing apples is a mess, so this is a breeze. I imagine it'd be just as good with low-fat crackers.

[ipsedixit]

I just tried it the other day with Saltines ... works just as well.

[MacGuffin]

Well, that's certainly cheaper AND has less fat that Ritz crackers! Were they salted?

[ipsedixit]

Yes, and they were generic, plain brand Saltines, er, soda crackers ...

[Caroline1]

My mother used to make that around 40 years ago. She was a slightly plump woman and always dieting. She was so proud of her faux apple pies until I asked her how many calories she thought a slice of it had compared to pie made with real -- and much less fattening -- apples? After my question, she never made another.

EDIT
For the record, Ritz mock apple pie is 410 calories per slice and real apple pie is 280.

[Father Kitchen]

I once compared cost of Ritz crackers to apples in the market and decided a real apple pie was the cheaper way to go. That depends, of course, on the season. But with fresh apples available year-round, I don't know why anyone would want to make a faux apple pie, except perhaps for the fun of making a fake.

[Querencia]

Yes, I am reading through this thread on a day when I got 3 lb Granny Smith apples for 3.49, buy one bag get one free, so 6 lb apples for 3.49---I used about one-third of the total to make an enormous (real) apple pie that is at this moment in the oven so using apples I could theoretically make an apple pie costing $1.16 for the fruit, whereas a box of Ritz Crackers costs $2.50 on sale. Anyway I like apples better.

[Boccone Dolce]

I've made this... it's... interesting.

I don't have any mock fruit pie recipes, but I did make a Chess pie that people swore was like a Pecan Pie without the pecans...

[greygarious]

I have made an Oatmeal-Coconut Pie that looks and tastes like a Pecan Pie that was made with chopped nuts rather than the usual intact halves.

[LifeOfSpice]

Although I haven't made it, I recently had a slice of Pinto Bean Pie at Boulder's local pie-centric restaurant, the Walnut Cafe. It also tastes like pecan pie and was my favorite of the three different slices I bought on National Pie Day.

[dmd_kc]

I made up a recipe for a banana/pinto pie after having one flavored with **shudder** artificial banana flavoring at a restaurant. It's something people ask me to bring to potluck situations now.

[pigtails]

Yes, I have made a vinegar pie before - I believe a fannie farmer recipe. Although it smells vinegary while baking, it tastes like a lemon custard when done. totally wierd! but amazing!

[janetms383]

OMG this was one of the first things I ever "cooked". I think I was in Brownies at the time :-)

The advantage to real apple pie is at least you're getting some real fruit albeit mixed with cinnamon, sugar and butter!

[bw2082]

interesting. I've seen the recipe on the box many times but it has always frightened me lol ... I just cannot fathom a pie made from ritz crackers can taste like real apples. I may have to try this

[laliz]

I remember this from childhood. Have never made it or even had it as an adult. I think it would be fun to make and serve to get opinions.

[rememberme]

Does it taste like apples? Or something else entirely?

[pemma]

Even if it tastes just like real apple pies, what's the advantage? Is it just the novelty?

[karykat]

I guess it's kind of the novelty. I enjoyed making this a long time ago and pawning it off on people who all just accepted that it was apple pie. The wierd thing is (as I remember) the apples kind of smoosh and compress together in layers that actually look like apple slices.

[gfr1111]

I wondered about the point of it, too. I looked up its origins. It turns out that pioneer women could keep crackers in their covered wagons for a long time, along with sugar, water, and the appropriate flavoring. What they couldn't keep well in the heat was apples. Hence, the birth of "Mock Apple PIe," which was picked up later by the Ritz cracker people.

I've made it. It's good and tastes just like apple pie. You definitely ought to try it. However, I will bet that it is cheaper and healthier to make an apple pie out of apples. (On the other hand, if I ever decide to get into my Conestoga wagon and head for the Great Beyond, I'll keep the recipe in mind!)

[dmd_kc]

Bingo. It's good -- but it's way, way higher in carbohydrates and especially fat than the real thing.

I've made it for occasions like April Fool's Day, though.

[PattiCakes]

not to mention sodium.

[ipsedixit]

The mock apple pie sort of reminds me of McDonald's Baked Apple Pie.

As to why make it instead of real apple pie?

-Cost (Rtiz crackers are probably cheaper than apples)
-Allergies
-Shelf-life (bet the mock pies keep longer than the real one)

[rememberme]

Wow. My mother, who grew up in the depression in a family of great cooks, (think apple strudel with homemade phylloh dough) said everybody loved this pie! I could never figure out how that could be, but now you've got me thinking about it again. Should I try it?

[roro1831]

My aunt used to make that when I was a kid. It has been a running joke since, but it was actually very good.