Mini Pumpkin Pie Recipe
These little desserts are not only the perfect Thanksgiving dessert recipe, but they’re also easy to make. Along with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins, you’ll wish it were pumpkin season all year round.
I’ve included directions to use both store bought or homemade pie crust. A pre-made pie dough is just as lovely and half the work. If you’re making dough from scratch you’ll need to plan ahead using my pie crust recipe as it takes 2 hours to chill.
One thing you’ll love about these mini pumpkin pie bites is their overall texture and flavor at varying temperatures. Just like Mini Apple Pies, these pie bites are just as good cold from the fridge as they are straight from the oven. Of course they’re so good they may not even make it into the fridge.
Ingredients
Here are the main non-staple ingredients, as well as substitution ideas, needed to make this recipe for mini pumpkin pies. For the complete list, see the recipe card below:
Pumpkin Pie Filling
- Pumpkin Puree – Make sure you grab a can labeled “pumpkin puree”. It is not the same thing as pumpkin pie filling.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice – Here’s a list of pumpkin pie spice substitutes, as well as, a recipe for a homemade pumpkin pie spice blend, if you don’t have any on hand.
- Cream Cheese
PIE CRUST
- Store-bought Pie Crusts (you will need 2 crusts) or
- All-purpose Flour – I have not tested this recipe with any other type of flour.
- Un-Salted Butter – you can use salted butter. Just reduce the amount of salt you add to the dough.
- Vegetable Shortening – make sure it’s chilled prior to using.
- Salt
- Ice Water
How To Make Pumpkin Pie Bites
Here’s a quick overview showing how to make my pumpkin dessert recipe, starting from when the pie dough is ready to go. For the complete list of instructions, see the recipe card below.
Prepare The Pan and Oven: Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease the baking pan.
Prepare the Pie Dough: Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough on a floured surface. If using store-bought crust, you can just unroll onto the surface. You do not need a rolling pin.
Cut the Dough: Use a 2″ cookie cutter to cut out 24 rounds. Transfer the circles to the mini muffin tin and press into shape.
Egg Wash: To create a golden brown crust, you’ll need to brush the crust with an egg wash. You can skip this step if you don’t care about the color of the crust.
Create the Pumpkin Filling: Beat the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. You’ll want to use a stand mixer or hand mixer for this, if you’re cream cheese isn’t fully room temperature, to ensure a creamy filling. Add one egg at a time, followed by the pumpkin puree. Add the vanilla extract and pumpkin pie spice and beat one last time.
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Fill The Pie Crust: Spoon about 1 tablespoon of batter into the uncooked pie shells. Each shell should be about 80% filled.
Bake: Bake for 15-18 minutes, until the center is set. Cool for 30 minutes before topping and serving.
Recipe Variations
Toppings: Top these bad boys with cool whip, whip cream or marshmallow cream.
Nuts: If you’re a fan of nuts, sprinkle chopped pecans or walnuts over the top before baking. You’ll need about 1/2 cup. You can also stir the nuts in before baking, if you prefer.
Add-ins: For extra texture, toss some white chocolate chips, toffee bits, caramel sauce, or butterscotch chips into the batter, or add them to the top of the pie batter before baking.
Tips From Darcey’s Kitchen
Here are a few of my top tips to keep in mind while making this pumpkin pie recipe:
- The only special kitchen item you need to make these pumpkin pie bites is a mini muffin tin. That’s it.
- Use quality vanilla extract. Yes it’s gotten pricey over the years but it’s worth the investment.
- Like to max out on pumpkin spice? Add an extra 1/2 teaspoon of the pumpkin pie spice to increase the flavor.
- If you’re using store bought dough, you will use both crusts. If you’re using a homemade pie dough recipe, double it.
- For a quicker pie dough, consider using this Crisco Pie Crust Recipe.
- Once cooled, store these in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve.
More Fall Recipes
Here are a few more Fall-themed dessert recipes to check out – they all pair well with a glass of Pumpkin Pie Martini:
- Pumpkin Dump Cake
- Caramel Apple Dump Cake
- Pumpkin Pasta Sauce
- Cream Cheese Banana Bread
- Baked Apples
- Apple Dump Cake
This recipe was originally posted in September 2018, but has been updated with new photos and additional text. The recipe for the homemade pie dough has been slightly modified.
Easy Pumpkin Pie Bites with Buttery Crust
Ingredients
Pumpkin Pie Bites
- 2 uncooked pie crusts (*Note 1)
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree (*Note 2)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, divided
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Optional Topping: whipped cream, cool whip, etc.
Homemade Pie Crust Dough
- 2½ cups All-purpose Flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- ⅔ cup vegetable shortening, cold
- ½ cup Ice Water
Instructions
Homemade Pie Crust
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.
- Use a pastry cutter or knife to cut the butter and vegetable shortening into the flour mixture until you have coarse crumbs. Do not overwork the ingredients.
- Measure 1/2 cup of water into a glass. Add the ice and stir so the water chills. Re-measure to have a total of 1/2 cup of water (some of the ice will melt causing more than the original measurement). Stir in the ice cold water, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough forms a ball.
- Transfer the dough to a floured surface. Using floured hands, fold the dough into itself until the flour and fats have combined. If the dough feels a bit dry, dip your fingers in the leftover ice water and continue to fold. If it's too sticky, sprinkle on a very small bit of flour and refold until it's no longer sticky.
- Form two balls and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours.
Pumpkin Pie Bites
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Grease the mini muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- Transfer the pie dough balls to a floured surface and gently roll with a rolling pin. If using store bought crust, gently unroll the pie crusts onto the surface – no rolling pin required.
- Using a 2″ cookie cutter, cut 24 rounds out of your dough.
- Using your fingers, gently transfer the cut dough to the mini muffin tin and gently press into shape.
- Crack 1 egg into a small bowl and beat with 1 tablespoon of water to create an egg wash. Brush the egg wash onto the top of each pie crust. Set aside.
- Using a hand or stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and granulated sugar until smooth.
- Add 1 egg and beat until combined . Add the remaining egg and beat until combined.
- Add the pumpkin puree and beat to combine.
- Beat in the vanilla extract and pumpkin pie spice.
- Spoon about 1 tablespoon of pumpkin batter into each mini pie crust. It should be about 80% filled.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes and cool for about 30 minutes prior to topping. (*Note 3)
- Top with whipped cream, cool whip or marshmallow cream followed by an extra pinch of pumpkin pie spice.