Pumpkin Pie That Isn’t Just for Thanksgiving

I whisper it very quietly because most people would wonder if I was born on another planet – I’ve never really liked pumpkin pie.

(gasp)

It’s not that I have a hate-on for pumpkin. In fact, I totally crave pumpkin squares, pumpkin soup, freshly roasted pumpkin seeds. But, me and pumpkin pie just don’t have a whole lotta love for each other. On the other side of it all, everyone else in my family loves it. They wonder why I regularly deprive them of the opportunity to partake. I feel mommy guilt. It had to be reconciled.

This seemed particularly true this year when I couldn’t shirk my motherly baking duties and pawn them off on my sister-in-law, who has lovingly taken care of the pumpkin pie making for all family dinners since the beginning of said family dinners. This year we had a bunch of friends who were on their own for the holiday over for Thanksgiving dinner. Pumpkin pie needed to be on the menu. I used avoidance and “I forgot” in many attempts to escape the demands of company and small pumpkin-loving children.

Then, Sweet Potato Chronicles found me and spoke quite loudly, declaring “You will be making pumpkin pie in cute little single-serving ramekins this year because it’s easy and everyone will think you rock!”

Who could resist such a declaration? I often need to rock.

So, I busted out the ramekins and the almonds (it has a mostly flourless crust), whipped up the pumpkin mixture and SHAZAM – there were these pumpkin pies on my counter that tasted so awesome we decided that every meal could be pumpkin pie night – forever.

We modified the recipe a bit to suit our tastes and the contents of our cupboard (somehow I never have everything I need). Here it is. I have to share. Mostly because I did actually officially rock after making these. Thank you Sweet Potato Chronicles:

Mini Pumpkin Pies

Crust

1 cup almonds
2 tablespoons spelt flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon cinnamon butter, melted
pinch of salt

Filling

1 (14 oz can) pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
2 eggs
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. For the crust, put all the ingredients into a blender or food processor and chop, chop, chop until they are pretty fine. Take handfuls of the mixture and press them into the bottom on each ramekin to form a crust.

3. Now, mix up all of the filling ingredients in the blender and pour into the ramikins.

4. Mini pies cook for about 30 minutes until the filling is firm on top. A full pie takes about an hour. If you double the recipe and cook both, the minis take 5 to 10 minutes longer because they are sharing oven love with the big sucker.

5. Take them out, let them cook and top them with freshly whipped cream.

So easy. I am going to go do the happy pumpkin dance, consider this an excellent choice for Quinn’s birthday cake and go make some for dinner (would it be wrong to just eat pie?)

Have a cozy, warm October day!

Tags: Canadian, dessert, family, featured, goodness, gratitude, Kids, love, mini pumpkin pie, Our Big Earth Media Co., recipe, single serving, Thanksgiving, warmth

Category: Dessert, EAT LOCAL, Food & Your Family, Recipes