itsagaz said: It used to be more cost-effective to simply buy foodservice-grade bakery pies in bulk -- back when Sara Lee still had their outlet stores, you could regularly buy very nice pies (chocolate cream, banana cream, coconut cream, strawberry cream, etc.) for between $2 and $3 apiece, and occasionally for as little as $0.99. I remember once stopping in to buy supplies for a pie fight, delightedly discovering a 99-cent sale and leaving with four dozen pies that were put to VERY enjoyable use the next day.

Nowadays it's a lot more expensive. If you want an "authentic" pie experience -- that is, a pie with a crust, differentiation between topping and filling, and the same consistency as a bakery pie, it's hard to get much below $4 or $5 per pie... especially if you assign some value to the time you spend "assembling" your home-made pies. If you're in Michigan, you may actually find better prices at Meier, etc., than at GFS -- Meier seems to have a two-for-$7 special on pre-made pies every other month, and it's worth stocking up if you can.

If you're making your pies, I've found that mixing Cool Whip and frosting at a roughly equal ratio (i.e. two 8oz tubs of Cool Whip or store brand whipped topping to one 16oz tub of frosting), and then adding coloring as needed, works well for the filling. For the topping, combining a couple of tubs of whipped topping with one package of white cake mix and blending it thoroughly creates a pretty good, non-melting pie topping.

mhop said: Well pudding is a good one for messy pies, depending on where you live in michigan there may be a gordon foods service near you. There you can get giant cans of pre-made pudding for around 7-10 dollars. Also can get bulk pie shells and tins for cheap. You can buy various sizes of empty pie tins staring at 69 cents each. They also have different types of whipped topping you can buy not just the spray cans. Things like dessert topping as well , chocolate , strawberry , caramel. Hope this helps message me any questions you have.