Luckily, there’s only been a handful of times in my life when I’ve been seriously disappointed.

…when I learned the truth about Santa, even though at age 14 I still begged my brothers to sleep in my bed with me because I was so horrified of a portly, hairy man seeing me while I was sleeping. See also: when I learned the truth about Dirty Dancing. Like it not being real life.

…when my mom claimed that parmesan truffle fries tasted… “funny.”

…when I found out that Alanis was really singing about Uncle Joey in In You Oughta Know. [At least it wasn’t Uncle Jesse though, because I may have hoisted myself over the Golden Gate in depressing tribute.]

…when I found out about skinny jeans. Basically, just skinny jeans in general.

…oh, and that time I tried to make a pie crust like Mother Lovett and ran screaming for the hills, swearing off all pastry for life. Without ever writing part two.

But no fear. Definitely no disappointment here. You don’t have to make a crust, or press it into a dish, or make cute little designs on the edges that look like crap while everyone else’s look amazing. And you certainly don’t have to do any of that lattice junk over the top and wait a million years while it bakes and sets up.

All you have to do is throw some stuff in a mug and eat it. It’s like the lazy man’s pie. I like it, I do I do.

And it may not even really be a pie, but what the heck else should I call it? Strawberries in a mug with crust? Um, no. Come onnnnnn people. Don’t get picky with me today… I’m just showing you how to make a dessert in minutes and eat it with a spoon. Mug pie is where it’s AT. Syrupy, juicy strawberries underneath some serious puff pastry crust. UGH… I just love puff pastry. I think on my bucket list I shall add “eat an entire plain puff pastry sheet” and see where it takes me.

You don’t need to make these in a mug – you can clearly make them in a cutie ramekin or even a small sort of bowl. You don’t have to put your mugs in the oven since that’s not always safe, but I used some older mugs that I knew had handled the heat before, and that are also my husband’s ancient (not in a good way) dish ware from the pre-Jessica days. I’ve only been trying to get rid of that junk for almost four years (I give it away to everyone, why must they be good people and give it back?!) so if it shattered in the oven, I’m not gonna lie… I wouldn’t shed a tear.

If you still want to serve the little pies in mugs, you can roast the strawberries in a dish, puff the pastry (hardy har har) in the oven, then assemble it together in a mug right before serving. Because holding a pie in your hand with a big spoon while you sit on the couch is definitely something we should all be doing. Like today.

Strawberry Mug Pies

serves 4

2 pounds of fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

1 thawed puff pastry sheet, cut into 4 circles/squares to sit on the mugs

1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a baking dish, combine strawberries, sugar, flour, salt and mix to combine. Either divide the mixture into 4 mugs or ramekins, or keep it in the baking dish. Place cut puff pastry either over top of the mug or ramekin, or on a baking sheet, and brush with beaten egg. Place the mugs on a baking sheet and place in the oven (or just place the baking dish and sheet with pastry in the oven). Bake for 25-30 minutes, checking once in between to stir strawberries and see how the pastry is coming along. When pastry is golden and puffed, remove and let cool to the touch (about 5 minutes) then serve (or spoon the strawberries into the mug and top with pastry).

Additionally, forgive me for using a grapefruit spoon to eat my pie. That’s what happens when literally every utensil you own is dirty and you’re too lazy to hand wash one.