Mini Pumpkin Pies

One rushed afternoon filled with wedding planning, workouts, leaky siding, and birthday celebrations inspired this adorably delicious dessert.

My best friend’s birthday dinner was spontaneously planned that night and I only had a few hours to prepare.

She had been asking for pumpkin pie as of late, and I figured why not?

As I dug through the cabinets for my pie pan, when I noticed it was gone.

I ran up to my room and checked every corner, and still it was not to be found.

I started to allow the overwhelming checklist of the day boil in my mind into a overflowing pot of panic when I noticed a muffin pan chilling on the shelf.

Hmm mini pumpkin pies…

Quickly running out of time, without hesitation I grabbed the pan and never looked back  🙂

Mini Pumpkin Pies

The Filling

3/4 cups sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

2 large eggs

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin

1 can (12 fl oz) evaporated milk

The Crust

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

3/4 cup butter

*Yields 12 mini pumpkin pies*

1. For the filling combine all the dry ingredients, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and ginger, into a bowl.

2. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees  and grease up those muffin tins.

3. Beat the eggs for the filling.

4. Add the pumpkin.

5. Combine dry ingredients into the pumpkin and egg mix.

6. Once all blended add in the can of evaporated milk and set aside.

7. Now for the crust, blend together flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl.

8. Gradually add in and stir the butter.

9. Once it looks kinda like a clumpy mess, fold it into a ball and get ready to roll out the dough.

10. Using a plastic cup, I rolled out the dough fairly thin, adding extra flour to the cup and table to prevent the dough fro sticking.

11. I used the opening of the cup to cut out circles for each pie.

12. Place each circle into a muffin space, and gently push it down and around the edges of the space. You want to make sure there are no holes or tears in the dough or the filling will run out of the crust.

13. Next spoon in about a half a cup of pumpkin pie filling into each muffin space.

14. Bake for about 15 minutes to harden the crust and then lower the temperature to 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

A tasty and innovative way to eat your favorite treat without extra guilt!

By the way, she loved them!

And I must say, making pie crust is very theraputic after a chaotic day 🙂

Thanks!

-The Foodie

Vegan Slutty Pumpkin Blondies

Slutty Pumpkin Blondies?

What does that mean you ask?

Well let’s just say I was inspired.

One of my fiance’s cousin made a similar dish, slutty brownies, a few months ago and it was scrumptious.

This 3 layered dessert is a spin off of that, but fall themed.

Why is it so slutty?

Maybe because its all your guilty pleasures wrapped into one …

A naughty indulgence?

Maybe.

Anyways, because this is a 3 part recipe I am going to explain it slightly different.

Part 1 will be the oatmeal cookie mix bottom

Part 2 will be the already made Pecan Turtle cookies

Part 3 will be the pumpkin blondies

**Preheat oven to 350 degrees and make sure you have an 8X8 greased pan 🙂

Part 1 

Oatmeal Cookie Bottom

1/2 cup applesauce
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
½ banana mashed
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup  flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups  rolled oats

1. Blend together the applesauce, brown sugar, banana and vanilla until smooth in a large bowl.

2.In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together.

3. Stir this into the wet mixture.

4. Pour mixture into  greased pan and set aside.

Part 2

Pecan Turtle Cookie Middle

1. Get about 5-6 large vegan cookies and set them on top the oatmeal cookie layer. Break them up as needed.

Part 3

Pumpkin Blondie

1 18oz package of white cake mix

1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon

1 15.5oz can of pumpkin

1. Mix cake mix, cinnamon, and pumpkin in a large bowl.

2. Pour this on top of the first two layers.

Bake all together for 40-50 minutes

Bing!

I took this up to my fiance’s grandparents house and it was delish!

We served it with some milk in the dish to add a nice touch 🙂

 

Mmmm its just another reason to love fall!!

Thanks!

-The Foodie 🙂

Vegan Pumpkin Cupcakes

Well its that time of year again…

Leaf crunching, cocoa sipping, pumpkin eating weather..

Its my favorite!

The arrays of oranges and reds delicately fragranced with the scent of brisk smoky air…

Yum!

In the spirit of the best time of the year, I decided to pump out some pumpkin cupcakes.

Just as an FYI, the frosting is not vegan, but can easily be done so with the proper substitutions.

Vegan Pumpkin Cupcakes

2 1/4 cups of flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup applesauce

1 cup white sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 mashed banana

1 cup pumpkin puree

Not So Vegan Frosting

1 8oz package reduced fat cream cheese

( to make vegan, find a vegan cream cheese)

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

*Yields 20-24 cupcakes

Cupcakes

1. Mix the dry ingredients from the cupcake recipe, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk  applesauce, white sugar, and brown sugar together until it has an airy texture.

3.  Add the mashed banana slowly to the wet mix.

4. After the banana is well mixed, stir  in the pumpkin puree.

** If needed, add a couple splashes of water to make stirring easier.

5. Combine the dry mix with the wet mix and stir well until everything is blended.

6. Pour the batter into the cupcake liners.

7. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 25-30 minutes depending on your oven.

Frosting

1. Whisk softened cream cheese while slowly adding in the confectioner’s sugar.

2. Once blended well add the brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon.

3. After letting the cupcakes cool, frost!

Fiance approved!

Hope you enjoy this scrumptious taste of Fall..I know I will 🙂

This is my favorite time to bake!!

Keep a look out for some more fun fall recipes!

-The Foodie