Praline Pumpkin Pie Bites

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Always a New Tradition!

We have not had any one way of doing Thanksgiving – I had years of hosting the whole family (even a wedding!), or made it on the Sunday before, celebrated with friends’ families (my homemade French Silk Pie was my ticket), cooked and brought everything to my daughter’s, and am even satisfied taking the day off putting my feet up and having a turkey sandwich! I enjoy making homemade rolls and cranberry orange bread, homemade pies, Silver Palate cornbread sausage dressing, homemade cranberry sauce, and sweet potatoes with a brown sugar cranberry topping. Drop me a line if you want me to send along any of those recipes!

Let’s Make it Tiny

I have made variations of traditional recipes over the years and this Praline Pumpkin Pie is a true favorite. I don’t like and never eat regular Pumpkin Pie, but due to other traditionalists in the family, I hadn’t made this for years. The Grands and I LOVE the tiny food craze, and I like the idea of bite-sized treats, especially for Thanksgiving. So, I tried my recipe in my mini muffin tins this morning for you, and had to distribute to the neighbors after taking photos – it is a little too easy to have one more bite, even the praline left on the muffin tins was the bomb. And who can resist cute food?

Praline Pumpkin Pie Minis

The crust isn’t the “thing” here, so I used Pillsbury All Ready Pie Crust, rolled it out a bit thinner, and cut circles with the rim of a juice glass (about 2.5” across). I was able to make 43 little pies with both crusts and the filling. I cut the circles and pressed them into the bottom and sides of mini muffin tins.

I prefer making my own spice combination, but you could probably substitute the last five ingredients with a Pumpkin Pie spice. Combine in a medium bowl:

⅓ c white sugar

⅓ c light brown sugar

¼ tsp salt

1½ tsp ground ginger

1½ tsp ground cinnamon

¾ tsp ground nutmeg

¼ tsp mace

1/16 tsp ground cloves

Blend into above mixture:

1½ c canned unseasoned pumpkin

3 large eggs well beaten

¾ c heavy cream or evaporated milk

Pour carefully (I spooned from a measuring cup) to just fill (not overfill) each little crust. Bake at 375 degrees about 12-15 minutes until the filling is just starting to look firmer on top.

In the meantime, blend together:

¾ c of light brown sugar (½ c if you are baking a singular pie)

6T softened butter (4T butter if you are baking a singular pie)

1+c of pecans finely chopped (I was making about half again as much from the ¾ c of the original recipe to make sure I had enough, so just make it somewhere between 1c and 1¼ c)

Remove the little pies from the oven at partially-baked mark and top with about a teaspoon of the praline topping. The “partially-baked” helps the topping to sit on top. The butter in the topping will melt down, so you don’t need much, and a little pumpkin showing won’t matter. Return to the oven for another 12 minutes or so. The filling will be baked enough either way; you just don’t want the praline to darken too much. If you are baking a singular pie, the bake times would be 25 minutes of partial bake, and then another 30 minutes with the topping.

Serve with whipped cream, of course. And, by all means, have another one! Some will attempt to eat it in one bite!