I was prepared to hate this recipe. I’m not a fan of pumpkin pie and pecan pie was never my thing. I’m an apple pie lover. I’m indiscriminate in my love, any kind–old fashioned, Dutch, turnovers, tarts–it doesn’t matter. Add vanilla ice cream and welcome to heaven. :P
See the chunks of buttery goodness?
This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, A Thanksgiving Twofer Pie, was created by Dorie Greenspan to appease lovers of either pumpkin pies, pecan pies, or both kind of pies.
Instead of making one big pie, I decided to make tiny pies in a cupcake/muffin pan. This involved a lot of hope and faith on my part because I wasn’t sure the pie-ettes would release from the pan without breaking or falling apart. I was willing to risk it, to try a new pie baking method, because if I failed it would have been no big loss. I wasn’t going to like this recipe.
Due to the smaller size, I had to play around with the baking times both when I pre-baked the crust and when I baked the filled pie-ettes.
The secret to a great pie crust is butter. Specifically, very cold butter. When you make the pie crust, you want to keep the butter as cold as possible. I always freeze my butter and use ice-cold water. When you roll out the dough, you should still see chunks of butter. It’s also important to chill the dough prior to baking to make sure that the butter chunks are still cold. When you bake the crust, the butter chunks melt and create pockets of flakiness and the cold butter delays the melting until the baking crust can support the air pockets.
A 9-inch pie crust was enough to mold each cup in the muffin tin. I made the fillings as directed, but ended up with too much. I ended up pouring the extra pumpkin pie filling into custard dishes and making a couple of crustless pumpkin pies.
The pie-ettes turned out wonderful. I may not be a pumpkin or pecan pie fan, but I am now a pumpkin and pecan twofer pie fan. YUM!
Thank you to Vibi of La casserole carrée who chose the Thanksgiving Twofer Pie for this week. This was a great choice because I wouldn’t normally pick something like this to bake.
Update: These were a BIG hit at work!
Oooh… minis! Looks great!
Thank you very much, Pinkstripes, for participating with me this week!
I’m so glad it was a hit with your co-workers! …those minis are total cuties!
A very happy Thanksgiving to you!
Ciao ! I bet they were a hit : the recipe is good but you certainly updated it a lot (can you say something like this ?) They are super beautiful !
So cute!!! I can barely stand it :) Glad they were a hit.
This is a great idea! Love your blog – the pictures are great. And I love both pies – I can’t imagine how crazy I’m going to go over this pie!
What a great idea to do minis. I wanted to make this pie, but time doesn’t permit this week. I’ll have to try it maybe at Christmas. Yours looks delicious.
How funny – so much work into something you were prepared not to like. I do love pumpkin and pecan, so can you send one my way?
Oohhh, these look yummy! I figured since I have a little extra leway with this one I might do it later in the week!
As for the marshmallows…I have to admit, the first time I made them I used 2 1/4 oz of gellatin rather than two 1/4 oz packets…OOOPs! They were kinda like india rubber according to my hubby! Haha!
I’m making this on Thursday or Friday, but I’m having fun “previewing” other pies first. Your minis are really cute – a bit of work it seems, but now you’ve mastered the technique. Glad you’re a ‘convert'; Dorie is good for that.
Nancy
Great idea with the minis! It’s nice to try something new and then actually like it!
I think mini-pies (or tarts) make a wonderful presentation. I’m sorry I couldn’t manage to join in this week – I think I would have liked the pumpkin and pecan combo better than either one alone. Glad these were a hit! See you soon.
I love the little pies filled with weights! perfection
Oh, I just love the little pie-ettes! Thanks for sharing your information and ideas…it is always fun to come and see what other options are available with all the other bakers. I think you have a winner here with this one!
Love your little pie-ettes – too cute! They’re great for portion control too!
Simply Wonderful!
I love the mini pie idea! I had that idea after I finished baking it, and had tried to cut circles out with a cookie cutter…yeah that didn’t work :) I guess I should’ve looked at your blog first! Happy Thanksgiving!
What a perfect treat to share at work this week! They look wonderful.
I love little pecan tarts – they look great!
Pie-lettes! So stinkin cute! Now you’re making me rethink my whole big pie to mini pie cupcakes. Glad you enjoyed the recipe and have become a twofer believer! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
Clara @ iheartfood4thought
Adorable cupcake pies! I think minis are always so much prettier.
How lovely! Thanks for sharing your clever technique–I’ll have to give this a try.
I made the pie last night and I too was skeptical. I’ve *never* eaten any pumpkin pie (how weird is that?), but I adore pecan pie. It was a hit at work, too, and now I have happy feelings about pumpkin pie!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Those look great! I’m making my pie today, and I think I’m going to try your approach and make them in my muffin tin.
You are one smart lady!
I love the pie-ettes. So very cute and yummy.
I am apple pie and vanilla all the way too. :)
these are just adorable!!! great idea… and great for transport :) i’ll have to try this one of these days! great job and happy thanksgiving!
What a cute idea! I had such a hard time with my pie baking correctly. I bet this would work so much better! I’m going to give a try! :-)
I love your mini pies…almost like pie cupcakes (or is that pie muffins??) I may try the recipe that way. Thanks for the tip about the leftover pumpkin filling. Happy Thanksgiving!
adorable! i’d love one (or three)!!
Your pictures are beautiful and your pies look awesome. Way to go.
Great idea for the twofer pies, little minis. I ended up making some cherry pies in muffin tins, too. So cute! Making minis ensures that the pies are done, that was my problem. Couldn’t for the life of me get that whole pie to bake all the way. I only tasted a pecan, then gave the whole pie away.
These look scrumptious. What a great idea! I’ll have to try that next time.
Yum, yum, yum! Excellent pie-ettes! I should have done that, easier to eat.
Yes! Minis! Small, simple, and sweet. Perfect.