When they pass around the coffee and the mini pumpkin pies...

This morning I woke up to thunder and lightning and a whole lot of rain. I felt like curling up and sleeping the day away and maybe working up the energy to watch a chick flick with a cup of cocoa.

And then I remembered that I made a promise to get up at 8am every day. Sigh.

So I cheered myself up with a plan to make these little treats:


A double treat -- another chance to practice my mom's great pie crust recipe AND creating small baked goods. I love making anything great smaller :)

The recipe is pretty easy. For the crust I used my mother's recipe, the same as for the pear tarte tatin -- 1 cup of flour, 1/2 t salt (don't forget the salt... I always forget the salt), 1/3 cup of shortening cut in until pea-sized, then 3-4 T cold water mixed in until a dough forms. I doubled the recipe for 18 mini pies. I rolled it out like a normal pie crust and cut out 4" rounds with a tupperware lid, then placed them into a greased or non-stick muffin pan.

The pie filling is the same as the recipe on the back of the Libby's Pumpkin can. One can of pumpkin, one 12oz can of evaporated milk, 3/4 cup of sugar, 1/2 t salt, 1/2 t ground ginger, 1/4 t cloves, 2 eggs.


I experimented a bit with little cut out dough pieces to act as autumn-y leaves, but I wasn't impressed with the result. They could probably do with a little icing detail.

Baked at 425F for 15 minutes, then at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Yum!