Pumpkin Pie Bites

Angie Dudley, aka Bakerella, has gotten a lot of local press recently about her appearance at the first ever Oregon Coast Cake and Cupcake Camp held on October 1 and 2 in Newport, Oregon .  She was there to promote her new book, Cake Pops, and taught several classes over the two day camp on how to make the adorable creations that have made her famous.  I think she is amazingly clever and talented and I really admire the niche she has carved for herself in a highly competitive environment. I drop by her blog, Bakerella, every now and then to see what she is up to, but have to admit that I haven't tried making her cake pops even though I long ago bought the stuff I needed to make them.  I seldom take the time to make fussy little treats that she is famous for but, nonetheless, enjoy reading about her latest creations and how her empire is coming along.

On a recent visit I found a post for Pumpkin Pie Bites that are perfect for Halloween and are quick and simple to make.  I have to be up front and honest and tell you that her little pumpkins look much better than mine so I want you to visit her where you can see her step by step instructions and the adorable little faces on her tarts with nice smooth surfaces. My piping skills are zilch but my grandchildren thought they were cute and that's my goal.

Pumpkin Pie Bites...an adaptation of Bakerella's recipe

2 refrigerated ready-to roll pie crusts

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Optional decoration:

1/2 cup chocolate morsels

vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Use cookie cutter to cut 12 round shapes from each pie crust. You will need to roll the dough thinner than it comes out of the box. Press dough shapes into a 24 cup mini muffin tray. (Make 12 at a time, alternating cups to make sure pie crusts don’t overlap each other.)  Use a small piece of the dough to make a little stem for your pumpkins.  Apply egg whites from one egg to the top edges of each pie.

Mix cream cheese, sugar, canned pumpkin, remaining 2 eggs, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice together until thoroughly combined. Spoon mixture into each pumpkin-shaped pie crust.

Bake for 12-15 minutes. Remove pies to cool and repeat with second pie crust. Place the muffin tray in the freezer to cool it quickly for re-use.

Makes 24 pies. Keep refrigerated.

To decorate, melt chocolate in a heat-proof bowl in the microwave on medium. Heat in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until melted. Add a little vegetable oil to make the chocolate more fluid. Transfer to a re-sealable plastic bag and cut the corner off. Drizzle or draw faces on pies.

Bakerella used ready made pie crust for her tarts, a great no mess timesaver, but I made my own cream cheese pastry that I use for Pecan Tassies and think it's worth the few extra minutes it takes to make it.

Basic Tart Shells

1/2 cup butter

3 ounces cream cheese

1 cup flour

Blend well and press into tart shells.  I included the above photo so you could see the little tamper from Pampered Chef that makes forming these little shells so very easy.   Just form the dough into little balls, flour the tamper and press it into the dough.  Add a bit of dough to  make the little stem on the pumpkins.

Fill the shells and bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.  The dough didn't brown as much as I would have liked because the filling was done before it reached a nice golden brown.

Bakerella's pumpkin filling is delicious and puffed up so pretty when the pies came out of the oven.  My tarts cracked as they cooled so they weren't as professional looking as hers.  They looked more like wizened up little faces than pumpkins but, what the heck, it added character.