Bonne Maman's Newest Product Is Just in Time for Holiday Baking

Thanks to an abundance of excellent fruit in the Pacific Northwest where I live, I usually make my own jams and preserves. However, when I need a specific flavor of jam that's not already in my pantry and have to run to the store, I always reach for Bonne Maman.

Bonne Maman preserves are high-quality, chock full of chunks of vibrant fruit, and they're never too sweet, so the flavor of the fruit really comes through. Because the preserves are so fruit-forward and delicious, I feel good using them in my baking projects and serving them straight-up with toast on the breakfast table. Don't even get me started on the Bonne Maman advent calendar, which features unique flavors that you can't even buy in larger jars.

Earlier this year, Bonne Maman released a new product that had nothing to do with fruit (though it was every bit as exceptional)—its Peanut Chocolate Spread. I've been happily smearing the spread on everything from bread to sandwich cookies ever since. And now, for the brand's latest release, it has shifted its focus back to the fruity side of things with three pie fillings.

Bonne Maman Pie Fillings

• Price: $9.99 for 21.1 ounces

• Flavors: Blueberry, apple, and cherry

• Why They're Worth Buying: A brilliant pantry staple that not only makes pie an any-old-time treat, but that can upgrade all kinds of desserts from thumbprint cookies to cobbler.

Bonne Maman Pie Fillings are Deliciously Fruity

These pie fillings come in Bonne Maman's iconic glass jars with the red checkered cap, though these jars—at 21 ounces—are much larger and better suited to all your pie-making needs. The fillings have the same intense fruit flavor as the preserves, but they're even less sweet and are bolstered with a thickener, which will ensure that your pies slice as cleanly as those from an old-school diner.

Bonne Maman launched this product line with three flavors: blueberry, cherry, and apple. The fillings have a very straightforward ingredient list—always a pleasure to behold—of fruit, sugar, starch, and pectin (the latter two ingredients are necessary for a perfectly set pie). The best part is that you don't have to do anything to them—just scoop them into your favorite pie crust and bake until heated through and the crust is golden.

How I'm Using Bonne Maman's New Pie Fillings

I tested the blueberry pie filling in a giant pop tart made with my homemade all-butter pie dough and a lemon glaze, and I took it to a potluck at a friend's house. There's usually so much food (unsurprisingly, most of my friends are food-loving people like me) that no single dish completely disappears, but I watched as the giant pop tart became smaller and smaller over the course of the evening. I saw a few friends take a tiny sliver only to return minutes later for yet another sliver and then another.

I'd like to think it was all because of my famous pie crust, which is very buttery and flaky, but a great pie crust with a mediocre filling is just a mediocre pie. Bonne Maman's blueberry filling baked up perfectly sweet and thick, with a rich blueberry flavor that often eludes blueberry pies made with fresh fruit. The best part? No one suspected the filling was anything but homemade.

I have grand plans for the other pie fillings—as the colorful center of thumbprint cookies that will go into my holiday cookie tins, swirled into brownies made from boxed mix (the cherry filling will be brilliant here), and as the base of a super easy apple cobbler for a weeknight dessert. There are plenty of ways to use these fillings beyond pie.

If you want to try these new pie fillings for yourself, you can find them at many national and regional retailers, including Stop & Shop, World Market, Sprouts, The Fresh Market, and Gelson's, for $9.99. Not only are they great to have in your pantry for impromptu pie (two words that I never thought I'd put together), but they're a springboard for a baker's dozen of other sweet treats.

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