These mini pumpkin pies not only look absolutely adorable, but they taste incredible and are surprisinglly easy to make.
Ingredients
Pie Dough
1¼cupsall purpose flour
1teaspoonkosher salt or 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
½cup(one stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into half-inch pieces
¼cup+ 2 Tablespoons ice water
Pie Filling
1cupsugar
½Tablespoonpumpkin pie spice
½teaspoonkosher salt
3large eggs
115-ounce can pumpkin puree
1teaspoonvanilla extract
½cupheavy cream
Whipped Cream
1cupheavy cream
2Tablespoonspowdered sugar
Instructions
Pie Dough
Combine the flour and salt in a food processor and briefly pulse 2-3 times. Add the butter and pulse until mostly pea-size pieces of butter remain (a few larger pieces are okay). Slowly pour 1/4 cup of the water into the food processor while pulsing the mixture, until it begins to form a ball (no more than 30 seconds). Add the additional tablespoons of water, one at a time, if your mixture is too dry to form a ball.
Remove the dough from food processor, form it gently into a disc, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
Filling
In a large bowl or stand mixer, whisk together the sugar, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and eggs. Once the mixture is smooth add the pumpkin puree, vanilla, heavy cream, and mix until everything is well combined. Pour the filling into a gallon-sized ziplock bag and store in fridge until assembly and baking.
Assembly & Baking
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. Roll the dough out on a floured surface using a floured rolling pin to roll into a rectangle that's roughly 12x18 inches. Re-flour the rolling pin and on top/beneath dough as needed so that dough does not stick to surface or rolling pin. Using a five-inch round cookie cutter* cut 12 five-inch circles. You may need to combine the dough scraps and re-roll for the last couple of crusts, but handle the dough the least amount as possible. Using a standard muffin pan**, gently press the dough into cavity of each muffin tin, and fold or crimp the edges until the dough resembles a cup-like shape.
Cut the tip off of the ziplock bag with the filling (start small for control) and fill each pie crust with the pumpkin pie filling, leaving about 1/4 inch rim of crust on the top of each tiny pie. Bake until golden brown on edges and bottom, about 40 minutes, rotating halfway through. Let cool completely.
In a stand mixer, whip the heavy cream and powdered sugar on high with whisk attachment until stiff peaks are formed. Using a piping bag and tip, or a gallon ziplock bag, pipe a dollop of whipped cream on top of each tiny pie once cooled.
Equipment
1 standard muffin pan
Notes
*If you do not have a five-inch cookie cutter, you can use a round glass or bowl with defined edges that is five inches in diameter to cut your pie crusts. You can also use a 3 or 3.5-inch cookie cutter and roll out the individual rounds of dough until they're roughtly 5 inches in diameter. **The cups of a standard muffin pan should measure about 2.5-3" wide at the top and about 1.5" deep.