A day to eat

(I know this is way late for thanksgiving, but I just found this in my drafts and thought I would finish and post it.)

I love baking.  Even more, I love baking miniature things.  Mini cakes, mini pastries, cookie bites, etc…

For Thanksgiving I thought I would bake two different kinds of mini pies.  Pumpkin (of course) and peach (for the southern girl in me).  Mini pies are nice in theory, but in reality they are a lot of work and very messy, but worth it I think.

The night before Thanksgiving  I baked, washed dishes and ate pies all night.

Mini Pumpkin Pies

• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust (homemade or store bought)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Set aside.

Roll out the pie crusts on a flour surface then smooth them out with a rolling pin. Use a cookie cutter or in my case a lid to cut 4 inch circles out of the pie crusts. Roll the leftover dough up into a ball then roll out with rolling pin and cut out more 4 inch circles. I had enough to fill all muffin tins because I rolled my dough out kind of thin.

Fill each pie with the mix and bake 15 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking 35 to 40 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

Cool.  Garnish as desired. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

Mini Peach Pies

• 2 pie crusts (homemade or store bought)
• 5 peaches, peeled and diced (Preferably fresh, but I got frozen)
• 1/2 cup of white sugar
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp of cornstarch
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 egg + 1 tbsp water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a muffin tin with cooking spray.

Combine the diced peaches with the white sugar, brown sugar, cornstarch, vanilla extract, and cinnamon, mixing then gently.

Do the same as the pumpkin pies. Roll out the pie crusts on a flour surface then smooth them out with a rolling pin. Use a cookie cutter or in my case a lid to cut 4 inch circles out of the pie crusts. Roll the leftover dough up into a ball then roll out with rolling pin and cut out more 4 inch circles. I had enough to fill all muffin tins because I rolled my dough out Kind of thin.

Place the circles (bottom crusts) into the muffin tin, pressing them to the sides.

Now, before you put the peaches in the crusts, roll out the other pie crust and smooth it out using a rolling pin. Using a sharp knife, cut out leaves and strips to cover the pies. This is going to take some time so you want to do it before you put the peaches in, otherwise the bottom crusts will soak up all the juices and it will take longer to bake and the pies will fall apart when you take them out.

After your finish your tops, scoop 2 tablespoons of peach pie filling into each tin. Then place the tops on the pies.

Mix the egg and water together and brush the tops of each pie with the mixture.  Don’t forget to sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar on the tops!  Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Enjoy!

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