Something about winter and Christmas inspires me to bake. I made Bakerella’s pumpkin pie bites back in October and while I liked it, it wasn’t quite “IT”. It’s been in the back of my mind since then and I decided to make these for Christmas Eve dinner…only this time, I decided to make a few changes:
#1. The first time we made these, I used a silicon baking pan. Molding the dough in the soft pan was a complete (and I do mean COMPLETE) pain in the rump. Not only that, but they took an hour to bake in the pan (vs the 12-15 mins as stated in the recipe). This time around, I used metal baking pans. Molding the dough was easier and I was much less frustrated by the process. 😉
#2. Last time, we used generic pre-made dough and I’ll be honest, I didn’t love the flavor. We still ate 2 dozen pumpkin pie bites but I knew I never wanted to use that dough again. This time we used Pillsbury dough and it tastes MUCH better. Very yummy!
#3. I really liked Bakerella’s recipe for the pie filling but my family didn’t like it as much as a traditional pie. Again, we ate all 24 of the bites so its not like the original recipe wouldn’t cut it. I just decided I wanted to try a different pie filling this time around. I ended up finding a pumpkin pie recipe on Libby’s website. I figured that I might as well go with the recipes suggested by the experts, right? Well, it was a good choice. The pie filling was EXACTLY what I was looking for. Awesome!!!
So, when all was said and done, I made a combo of 2 recipes. 🙂
Pumpkin Pie Bites
INGREDIENTS:
Crust-
2 refrigerated ready-to roll pie crusts
1 egg (egg white only)
Pie Filling-
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 can (15 oz.) LIBBY’S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 can (12 fl. oz.) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
INSTRUCTIONS:
Crust-
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Use a cookie cutter to cut 12 circles from each pie crust. You will need to roll the dough thinner than it comes out of the box. (I used a drinking glass to make circles the correct size.)
3. Press dough shapes into a 24 cup mini muffin tray. Make 12 at a time, alternating cups to make sure pie crusts don’t overlap each other.
4. Apply egg whites from one egg to the top edges of each pie. (FYI- I might skip this step next time. The bites didn’t end up burnt but I think the egg whites on the top was an unnecessary step.)
Pie Filling-
1. Mix sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in small bowl.
2. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture.
3. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.
Pie-
1. Spoon mixture into each pie crust. (The filling is pretty “runny” so I poured into a liquid measuring cup and then used that to pour into the cups.)
2. Bake for 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.
3. Cool on wire rack. Serve immediately or refrigerate.
It’s great when topped with whipped cream! Enjoy!!!
FYI- I had a bunch of pie filling left after I filled the 2 dozen pumpkin bites. Next time I might try to make another dozen bites but this time I didn’t feel like cutting another dozen circles and molding them in the baking pan. (I only have 2 pans so I would have had to start the process all over again.) Instead of tossing the extra batter, I made a regular (albeit shallow) pumpkin pie according to the instructions on the Libby website. It looks really yummy and since I already tasted the pumpkin pie bites, I know its going to taste awesome too! 🙂