Mini Pumpkin Pie Recipe For Two
Making homemade deep dish Mini Pumpkin Pie Recipe For Two without evaporated milk in a cream cheese pie crust means you’ll have room for pie on Thanksgiving after dinner. Made in two 4-inch springform pans.
Thanksgiving to many people means lots of family gathered at the dinner table, eating 20 pound turkeys, 10 side dishes, and 3 different kinds of pie.
For me, I don’t have a huge family. It’s only me, my parents, and my brother.
I know there are other families just like us where by the time you get to dessert, you can barely fit in a slice of pie.
Or maybe you’re hosting Thanksgiving Dinner For Two and can’t justify baking a whole 9-inch pie.
That’s why I opted for this Mini Pumpkin Pie recipe. Two mini pumpkin pie for two made in 4 inch springform pans with a homemade cream cheese pie crust.
Don’t have mini springform pans? Check out my Small Pumpkin Pie made in a 6 inch pie plate.
Why mini pies? I got the idea from my mini lemon meringue pies where the slices are smaller so you can still get a taste of Thanksgiving without as many calories (different story if you eat the whole pie).
Or maybe only some of your family likes pumpkin, so a whole pie won’t get eaten.
Or maybe you want to serve both pumpkin and pecan pies.
You also don’t need to open a can of evaporated milk. Nothing is more frustrating than opening a can of something and using only a small amount.
How To Make Pumpkin Pie
There are two parts to making mini pumpkin pie – the pie crust and the pie filling. You can make the pie ahead of time so you’re not stressing out on Thanksgiving Day.
This pumpkin pie recipe is based off of the traditional Libby’s Famous Pumpkin Pie recipe, which my dad swears by. I cut the filling down to fit into two mini pies then made a cream cheese pie crust.
Making pie crust for pumpkin pie
The pie crust for my mini pumpkin pies is similar to my Small Pie Crust but used cream cheese instead of shortening to add a bit of tang to the dough.
It’s important your butter and cream cheese are cold. This keeps the fat intact and not blended into the dough like you would with cookies or cake.
When you have chunks of butter in the dough, it’ll turn into steam while baking, which then creates flakey air pockets.
The easiest way to make pie dough is in a food processor. It takes only 5 minutes to cut in the butter and cream cheese to form a dough.
However, if you don’t have a food processor, add your dry ingredients to a large bowl then use a pastry cutter to cut the butter and cream cheese into the flour mixture.
Rolling out pie dough
It’s important the pie dough is cold before rolling it out because warm dough will stick to everything no matter how much flour you use.
Working with one piece at a time, roll the dough into a 6 inch circle. This gives you enough dough to cover the bottom and sides of a mini springform pan.
If the dough tears, don’t worry! You can easily patch the dough back together once in the pan.
How to blind bake pie crust
Blind baking the crust for pumpkin pie ensures you don’t end up with a soggy crust bottom.
This means the crust is partially baked on its own, allowing it to stay firm even after adding the custard filling.
If you were to add the pumpkin pie filling to an unbaked pie crust, it will never crisp up no matter how long you bake the pie. This results in a soggy crust bottom.
Because baking pie crust on its own tends to puff up, you need to add some greased foil (so it doesn’t stick to the dough) and pie weights to keep the crust in place while it bakes.
I use dried lentils for the weight, but you can also use dried beans.
During the last 5 minutes of blind baking, remove the foil. This direct exposure to the heat ensures the crust is no longer wet before adding the filling.
How to make pumpkin pie filling
Pumpkin pie filling is easy to make. All you do is whisk everything together in a bowl then pour into a partially baked pie crust.
Traditionally pumpkin pie filling contains evaporated milk. However, I hate opening a can of evaporated milk because I rarely use the entire can in small batch baking.
Luckily, you can substitute heavy cream and whole milk for evaporated milk. This combination ensures there’s enough milk fat in the filling.
If you’re looking to make pumpkin pie without eggs, check out my Eggless Pumpkin Pie.
Why does my pumpkin pie crack in the middle?
Pumpkin pie is considered a custard pie thanks to the egg filling. That also means it has a tendency to crack if it’s baked too long.
People often bake pumpkin pie too long because they can’t tell when the pie is actually done baking.
Much like a cheesecake, pumpkin pie is done when the center is firm to the touch and has a slight jiggle. It will never not jiggle, so just make sure it’s not jiggling too much.
If it does unfortunately crack, luckily you can cover it up with homemade whipped cream.
Should you refrigerate pumpkin pie?
Homemade pumpkin pie can sit out for 2 hours but then must be refrigerated to prevent bacteria growth.
Can you freeze pumpkin pie?
Yes, pumpkin pie freezes really well. This is especially useful when you’re making Thanksgiving dinner and have a million things on your to do list.
Wrap the cooled pie in several layers of plastic wrap before freezing.
To thaw pumpkin pie, place it in the refrigerator 12 hours prior to serving.
If you let it thaw at room temperature instead, the filling will weep and create a soggy crust. That’s why you want a slow thaw in the refrigerator.
What To Do With Leftover Canned Pumpkin
Making pumpkin pie for two means you won’t use a whole can of pumpkin puree. Here are more recipes using leftover canned pumpkin:
Equipment you may need (Amazon affiliate links):
Mini Pumpkin Pies For Two
Making homemade Mini Pumpkin Pies For Two without evaporated milk in a cream cheese pie crust means having room for pie on Thanksgiving.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 2 pieces
- 2 ounces cold full-fat cream cheese, cut into 2 pieces
- 1 tablespoon water
Pie Filling
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons whole milk, room temperature
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream, room temperature
- Small Batch Homemade Whipped Cream, for serving
Instructions
- In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, sugar, butter, and cream cheese. Pulse until the mixture looks like large pebbles. Alternately, add everything to a large bowl and cut in the fat using a pastry blender.
- Add the water and pulse until a dough forms. Divide the dough into two even pieces and flatten each piece into an evenly round disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or until cold.
- Preheat oven to 400F. Place two 4-inch springform pans onto a baking sheet.
- Working with one disk at a time, roll the dough into a 6 inch circle. Press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the pan (if the dough tears, patch into pieces). Repeat with the remaining disk. If the oven is still preheating, keep both pans cold in the refrigerator until ready to bake.
- Line each pie crust with greased foil, covering the bottom and sides. Fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove the foil and weights then bake another 5 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown and no longer looks uncooked.
- Turn the oven down to 350F. Let the crusts cool while you make the filling.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, salt, and vanilla. Whisk in the milk and heavy cream.
- Divide the filling evenly between the two crusts. Bake 45-50 minutes or until the filling is set (the center may jiggle slightly but shouldn't be wet).
- Cool for at least 2 hours then cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving with whipped cream.
Notes
- Don't have mini springform pans? Check out my Small Pumpkin Pie made in a 6 inch pie plate or Eggless Pumpkin Pie made in ramekins.
- Baking for the holidays? Check out my Thanksgiving For Two and Christmas For Two menus for recipe pairings.
- Got extra pumpkin? Check out my other pumpkin recipes.
Recommended Products
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Source: Adapted from Very Best Baking
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchase.
Would you look at that delicious crust–love!
Thanks Jennie!
Nice recipe. Thank you.
Thank you, Liz!
These mini pies are so cute and would make the perfect holiday gifts!!
They sure would! Thanks, Renee.
beautiful……simply beautiful
Thank you :)
omigosh! How cute are these??!!!! LOVE, so tasty, so perfect!
Thanks Kayle!
they look adorable and yummy!
Thanks Dina!
They look so cute. Got to love them!
Thank you Leslie :)
These are beautiful! Love all that deep dish filling…yum!
This will be my first Thanksgiving without Ebi, Carla. I can’t deal. I don’t even know if pie will make me feel better…and that’s saying a lot!
I’m so sorry to hear, Amy. Murray passed away right after the holidays were over, and even though I’ve had some time to heal, I think about him every. day. Thanksgiving and Christmas will be the two hardest days of my life because he loved those holidays. You and I can cry together in a corner as we try to eat pie.
I need a few of these in my freezer at all times!!
Yes you do!
Awww, I’m sad that this is your first year of holiday celebrating without Murray :( At least you have a lot of wonderful memories of him as well as these gorgeous pies. Deep dish no less! They look phenomenal, Carla. I want to hold one and eat it and pretend I’m a giant (which I’ll soon become after eating all that this recipe yields).
Hi! Do you freeze before or after baking?
Freeze afterwards. Make sure it is completely cool before wrapping and freezing.
Hi Carla, just found your blog – fun recipes! I do want to say – for the mini pumpkin pies, you said no evap milk since you dislike using just a bit of the product – agree! However, the recipe then uses 3 Tbls of heavy cream?? What about the leftover heavy cream – I find that much more frustrating! Much easier to use up evap milk ( in tea or coffee, for eg, or a smoothie) than heavy cream, which is much more fattening.
I personally find it harder to use up evaporated milk because first of all, you have to open a whole can. Heavy whipping cream is usually in a resealable container. As for using up leftover cream, there are plenty of possibilities – Alfredo sauce, ice cream, whipped cream, quiche. I have almost 70 recipes using heavy cream right here: https://www.chocolatemoosey.com/tag/heavy-cream/ If you want to use evaporated milk, you can still use that.
I do not have a use for mini springform pans. Will this bake well in mini pie pans if I adjust the baking time for shallower filling?
I haven’t tested the recipe in mini pie pans, but it should work.
Nice pie recipe. Perfect for the Pandemic Holiday.
Yes, it’s a nice small size for small families!
This was the BEST crust and pumpkin pie filling I’ve ever had! I was trying to figure out how to make a regular size 9 inch pie using the same ingredients. Should the recipe be doubled or tripled?
I haven’t made it in a 9 inch pie plate, but this is my guess. A 4 inch springform pan holds 10 ounces, so that’s 20 ounces for two pans (although they’re not filled to the very top, so could be 16 ounces actual pie). A 9 inch pie plate holds 32 ounces. So without testing, I’m guessing probably double. Let me know if you proceed so we know the results!