Mini Pecan Pies

I am not a huge fan of pie. I generally opt for cookies or ice cream if I am going to have a sweet treat. When I was a kid, I remember always going to The Village Inn with my mom. I loved going to dinner here. Not only did they have mini side salads on their kid’s meal (I know, “special” kid), I usually could talk my mom into getting a slice of French silk pie. This is my kind of pie! Chocolaty and creamy. I hated fruit pies. Ick!

The other pie I associate with good feelings is Pumpkin pie. This is a staple at Thanksgiving, one of my favorite holidays. Then I heard all about this other pie that is served at Thanksgiving but had never had, pecan pie. Well, when I went to investigate this after turkey dessert, it always seemed like this weird gelatin gooey glob pie. I know that this is the traditional way to eat it but it just seemed gross. I have aversions to food textures so a globby mess was not going to work for me. I will stick with old trusty pumpkin.

Still wanting to find a way to still try this pie, I went to my favorite place, Pinterest! I searched for pecan pie recipes and all of the recipes had a bunch of corn syrup in them. I figured that this was the culprit so I was on a quest to find one that did not include this ingredient. I am pretty sure that corm syrup is bad for you anyway. Shortly after my search, I found a nice recipe for mini pecan pies that did not include corn syrup. They were also “mini” pies. Even better!

One of my favorite parts of a piece of pie is the crust. By making mini pies, every bite is going to have a nice buttery crust. Perfect! The original recipe makes the piecrust from scratch but I once watched Martha Stewart say that the premade refrigerated piecrusts are just as good as homemade. Who am I to argue with the domestic goddess herself?

The first thing you will want to do it preheat your oven to 350. Now you will want to get out a muffin tin. Spray the muffin tin with cooking spray. Now, roll out your two raw piecrusts. You are going to have to cut out little circles to fit into each muffin cup. I used a drinking glass as a pattern for this. You are going to want them to be slightly larger than the muffin cup. Once they are cut, press them lightly into each of the muffin cups. This will make about 12-14 mini pecan pies.

Now it is time to mix up the filling. This is so easy! Measure out one and half cups of brown sugar, two eggs, two tablespoons of melted butter, a half teaspoon of vanilla, and two cups of pecan halves. I absolutely love pecans! I generally have to munch on a few while I am baking this! Now just simply stir all of the ingredients together and pour evenly throughout all of the mini pies. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the pies set and the crusts are nice and golden brown.

These are fantastic as is or with a scoop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on top. Another great thing about these little pies is that they keep beautifully. You could keep these for a few days as long as they are in a zippy or Tupperware container. This is just another easy recipe you could add to your Thanksgiving Day or Christmas table. I hope you enjoy these little yummy pies as much as I do!

1 package of refrigerated piecrusts

2 cups of pecan halves

1 ½ cups of brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tablespoons of melted butter

½ teaspoon of vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray. Roll out pie crusts and cut out circles slightly larger than the muffin cups. Place mini crusts individually in muffin tins and lightly press. Mix brown sugar, eggs, melted butter, pecans, and vanilla in a bowl. Pour mixture evening into crust lined muffin tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until set and crusts are golden brown. Makes 12-14 mini pies.

***Adapted from the Petite Deep Dish Pecan Pies by jennysteffens.blogspot.com

#recipe #thanksgiving #dessert #easy