Looking for a tasty way to celebrate those fall scents and spices out there, but not willing to commit to a whole pie? Try these little pumpkin pie cups for a personal-sized pie to enjoy!
It’s in the low 60s and we’ve got all the windows open to air out the house. You can smell fall everywhere, in the crispness of the air and the new loam smell of the falling leaves and the wood fires people have going in their fireplaces in the morning or their fire pits at night – and in all the spices filling in the air. Fall baking is going strong in my neighborhood!
And it’s going strong in our house, too, despite my being the only person in the house who really likes pumpkin pie. The rest of my household is up for pumpkin soup and chunky roasted pumpkin recipes, but they’re just not all about the pie. And since I’m not in the mood to eat a whole pie by myself {okay, my tastebuds are but the rest of me isn’t} I’ve come up with a solution that will give you that delicious pumpkin pie taste in an individual serving.
My Harvest Pumpkin Pie Cups!
Combine puff pastry and your favorite pumpkin pie recipe in a muffin tin and get to baking, and you’ve got these little mini-pies you can enjoy right away – or toss in the freezer to enjoy later. Who doesn’t want to always have fresh pumpkin pies at the ready?
I gave mine the fresh treatment by roasting a couple of fresh sugar pumpkins from the garden for my pumpkin puree. Two sugar pumpkins will give you about 2 1/2 cups of pumpkin that you can use in soup, in pies, or in any other pumpkin recipe that calls for pumpkin puree.
Sugar pumpkins are smaller and sweeter than the carving pumpkins you see in the store or at your local pumpkin patch, and their flavor is awesome. It’s a little bit more buttery and a little bit nuttier, and just explodes with flavor in comparison to the canned stuff. And they’re inexpensive and easy to roast, and you can grow new pumpkins from the seeds if you save them afterward – which is what we did. More free pumpkins? Bring it on!
You don’t even have to do much to prep these guys. I honestly just wash mine up and throw them on a baking sheet at 350F for about 45 minutes, or until the skin is fork tender.
Once they’re roasted, you slice off the tops, slice them in half, scoop out the seeds and innards, and then scoop out the flesh to puree.
To save the seeds, place the pulp and seeds in a colander to wash them off and separate them from the pulp. You won’t need all of them, so pick out the biggest seeds to plant. You should save about three times as many seeds as you think you want to plant, as not all of them will take. Place the seeds on a paper towel on a tray to make sure they dry, and place them in a cool spot for about a week. Once they’re dry, save them for planting in an envelope and store them somewhere cold and dry.
If you’re making a puree, all you have to do is throw the pumpkin flesh into a blender and blend until the resulting mix is nice and smooth. And then it’s ready to go for your recipe!
And in my case, about a cup of mine went into my pumpkin pie cups.
[lt_recipe name=”Harvest Pumpkin Pie Cups” summary=”Looking for a tasty way to celebrate those fall scents and spices out there, but not willing to commit to a whole pie? Try these little pumpkin pie cups for a personal-sized pie to enjoy!” servings=”12″ total_time=”35M” print=”yes” image=”https://homefrontcooking.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Pumpkin-Pie-Cups-1428-e1601842551439-1024×683.jpg” ingredients=”1 sheet puff pastry;2 cups pumpkin puree;1/2 cup granulated sugar;1/2 cup brown sugar;2 eggs;1/4 cup flour;4 oz (1/2 can) condensed milk; 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice;candied pecans for garnish;whipped cream for garnish;” ]Preheat your oven to 350F. Set out the puff pastry to thaw. Lightly grease the wells of a muffin tin.;In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin puree and sugars. Add in the egg and condensed milk and stir until well combined. Stir in the pumpkin pie spice, and fold in the flour.;Lightly flour a working surface and a rolling pin. Roll out the puff pastry sheet until it’s very thin and stretches to about 11×13 inches.;Using a large biscuit cutter or a wide-mouth glass (I used a whiskey tumbler), about 3 inches in diameter, cut out rounds of puff pastry to act as the cups.;Place each round into a muffin tin and mold the rounds to fill each tin like a small pie crust. Use a spoon and fill the rounds with the pumpkin puree.;Bake for 25 minutes or until the puff pastry has risen and is golden brown.;Garnish with pecans and whipped cream as desired![/lt_recipe]
So there you go, a great way to make your own mini-pumpkin pies – from fresh pumpkin, no less – and preserve the seeds so you can, you guessed it, grow more pumpkins next year!
I didn’t add the whipped cream to these bad boys, but I definitely added some candied pecans. You can find the recipe for my candied pecans here, and my pumpkin pie spice here!
Because we’ll be moved by next fall, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I’m going to plan my garden for next year. I’m thinking about putting in more of a cut flower and kitchen herb garden than one full of longer growing vegetables – but I’ll most likely still include tomatoes and a couple delicious sugar pumpkin plants!
So how about you guys? Where are my pumpkin pie fans out there?
