Mini Pumpkin Pies

This mini pumpkin pie has the texture and taste of a traditional pumpkin pie, but you'll be pleasantly surprised with a pumpkin cookie crust instead of pie crust. You're unique and everything you bake should reflect your fun style. The cookie crust is Betty Crocker Pumpkin Spice Cookie Bar Mix with additional flour added to get a cookie dough. You can add additional flour to any bar mix to make a cookie or a cookie mix to make a crust. Just knowing this tip will save you so much time during the holiday season. These mini pies are made with the pumpkin spice bar mix but gingerbread would also be a great combination with the pumpkin pie filling.

Pumpkins, the orange gourds’ first were mentioned in Europe dating back to 1536, and within a few decades they were grown regularly in England, where they were called “pumpions,” after the French “pompon,” a reference to their rounded form. When the Pilgrims sailed for America on the Mayflower in 1620, it’s likely some of them were as familiar with pumpkins as the American Indians who helped them survive their first year at Plymouth Colony, were. (Source: Hungry History)

In a 1653 French cookbook, the pumpkin was boiled in milk before making pie. This would soften the pumpkin and make it easier to mash. England published their favorite recipe in 1670 and it had the pie filled with alternating layers of pumpkin and apple, spiced rosemary, sweet marjoram and handful of thyme. That reminds me of a more savory pie that you would make today with squash. Pumpkin pie was always sweet in our house with all the warm spices of Fall.

Here's a good trivia question. Is a pumpkin a vegetable or fruit? By definition pumpkins are a savory fruit and not all fruit is sweet. An example of this would be the tomato and now you can add the pumpkin to that family. It's popular cousin, the squash is also in the fruit family.

At Thanksgiving, I like to taste all the desserts and always feel guilty taking a slice of pie and not eating the entire thing. Someway in the back of my mind, I'm a child again being told, "finish that, there are children starving in the world!" Now decades later, I'm at Weight Watchers every Friday morning to counter balance all those years in the clean plate club. I now make mini desserts so I can comprise with a small bite and still stay in control of my calories.

Let's get baking, you'll need:

1 package of Betty Crocker Pumpkin Spice Cookie Bar Mix

1/4 cup flour

1 egg

1 stick of butter.

Follow directions on the package and add the additional flour. You'll need to mix this dough by hand since it will be dry and crumbly. Spray your cupcake pans with Pam Baking Spray and press the cookie mixture into the bottom of each section. Bake the cookie shells for 10 minutes on 350 degrees. They will puff up and you can push them down to make your pie shell with the back of the measuring cup (1/4 cup measure works perfectly for my cupcake tins) while they are still warm.

Now it's time to make the pumpkin pie filling. You'll need:

1 can (15oz) pumpkin puree

1 can (12 oz) Carnation Evaporated Milk

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp Mc Cormick Pumpkin Pie Spice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs - beaten

(Note: Pie can be make sugar free by substituting Splenda for the sugars and made Vegan by using Coconut milk and ground flax seed eggs. Make the gluten free/vegan pretzel crust from a previous blog posting and once baked, fill with the pumpkin filling. I also made a sugar free, crust-less pumpkin pie that I'm going to enjoy with fat free whipped topping)

Add all the above ingredients in a stand mixer and mix until everything comes together. (about 2 minutes). Fill your cookie shells almost to the top. Bake for 15 mins in a very hot oven (425 degrees) for the filling to set. After 15 mins. drop the oven to 325 degrees for an additional 15 minutes. If your sides of the cookie shells get to dark, cut them off with a kitchen scissor and save them. I used the extra cookies as decoration for the top of the finished pies. Also pictured, I dusted a few with powder sugar and garnished with a cranberry.

Betty Crocker has a sugar cookie mix that you can add the additional flour and make shells for an apple pie, Fall pie with apples, cranberries and walnuts or anything you want. Let your imagination guide you and come up with your own fillings.

Enjoy and give thanks.