Mini Pumpkin Pies will be hugely popular with your guests!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my blogging friends and readers! I wish you a wonderful time with your loved ones. I hope it will be a time filled with laughter, love, kindness and food, of course! As promised, here is my recipe for Mini Pumpkin Pies. These mini desserts are so delightful, bursting with flavor and, in my opinion, super cute! Put them on a nice cake stand next to my Mini Apple Pies and everyone is going to love them. Making these cutie pies isn’t very time consuming, maybe an additional 15-20 minutes for cutting the circles out of dough when compared to a traditional pie. Totally worth it!

To make these, start with the dough. Here I used the same recipe as for my Mini Apple Pies. Since the pumpkin pie filling yields a lot, you need to use the recipe for a double crusted pie. I’m also using the same mini tarts pan like for my Mini Apple Pies, so you will need a 3-inch round cookie cutter as well.

To make the dough, start by cutting 2 sticks of butter into small cubes and place them into a freezer, and separately,  about 1/2 cup of water, for about 15 minutes. Using a food processor, combine flour, sugar and salt. In a small bowl combine 3 tablespoons of sour cream and 1/3 cup icy water. Set aside. Add cubed butter into the flour mixture.

Pulse the mixture about 8-10 times, until you see pea-size chunks of butter in there. Add half of the sour cream/water mixture and pulse briefly. Add the remaining half and mix a few more times. You should see big clumps of dough. If it seems too dry, add 1-2 tablespoons of icy water and pulse a few times more.

Place the dough on plastic wrap and form a ball. Divide it into 2 disks, wrap separately and place in the fridge for at least 1 hr and up to 2 days ( or freeze it for up to 1 month).

While the dough is chilling, prepare the pumpkin pie filling. In a bowl place pumpkin puree, sweetened, condensed milk, 2 eggs and spices. Stir well and set aside. In addition to cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger I recommend adding a pinch of black pepper. I read about it and decided to give it a try. You can’t taste it but the whole pie is a lot better. If you don’t want to buy 4 different spices, feel free to use a Pumpkin Pie spice mix. Don’t forget to add pepper and salt.

Let the dough sit on the counter for about 10 -15 minutes before you start rolling it out. Work with only 1 disk at a time and roll it out to about 1/4-inch thickness and you should easily be able to get 12 3-inch circles out of it. Repeat with the other disk. Using the leftover dough cut out the leaves as well.To assemble, grease up the mini tarts pan and place the dough circles in it. Gently push the dough down and press the sides. Fill up with the pumpkin pie filling and add the leaves on top.

Brush the leaves with an egg/water mixture to give them some shine.

Bake at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake another 15- 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry. Cool them completely before storing.Makes: 24 mini pies         Prep time:  30 minutes              Ready in: 3 hrs.

Ingredients:

Double Crust Pie Dough: makes 24 mini tarts

• 2 sticks ( 16 tablespoons) butter, cubed and placed in the freezer
• 1/3 cup icy water, plus 2-3 tablespoons as needed
• 3 tablespoons sour cream
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg/2 teaspoons water mixture for brushing the leaves

Pumpkin Pie Filling:

• 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
• 1 can (14 oz) condensed milk, sweetened
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Serve with: whipped cream

Directions:

1. Pie Dough: using a food processor mix flour, sugar and salt. In a small bowl mix together sour cream and 1/3 cup icy water; set aside. Add cubed, frozen butter into the flour mixture and pulse 8-10 times until you see pea-sized pieces. Pour in half of the sour cream/water mix and pulse 3-4 times, then add the remaining liquid and pulse again. When bigger clumps start forming, turn it off. If the dough seems dry, add 1-2 tablespoons of icy water and pulse 3-4 times again.
2. Place the dough on the counter and divide it in half. Flatten each piece into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hr and up to 2 days.
3. Pumpkin Pie Filling: in a large bowl mix together pumpkin puree, condensed milk, eggs and spices. Set aside.
   
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
5.  Bring the dough to room temperature. Sprinkle some flour onto the surface and roll one of the disks to about 1/4-inch thickness. Dip the 3-inch round cookie cutter into some flour and press firmly onto the dough. Repeat, leaving very little space between the circles.
6. Grease the mini tart pan and place the dough circles in, pressing down gently. Add about 2 tablespoons of the pie filling into each tart. Cut small leaves out of dough and place on top of each mini tart. Using a small, clean paintbrush brush each leaf with some of the egg/water mixture.
7. Bake at 425 degrees for the first 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake another 15-20 minutes until the leaves turn golden on top and the toothpick comes out dry. Cool down on the cooling rack.
8. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Happy Thanksgiving!