Carolyn J. Braden • 3 Minute Read
Mini Food Recipe: How To Make Any Pie Miniature
I love mini versions of lots of food. As the saying goes “good things come in small packages”, I went on a mission to prove this. Dessert is especially yummy in a smaller form and the smaller form can be great if you only want a tiny bit of a sweet treat or want to easily share with others.
My mini pumpkin pies turned out great!
If you are serving food to a crowd, sometimes it’s just easier to make little or mini versions of your favorite recipes. It can save you time from cutting pies and cakes so you can spend more time talking with your guests.
These mini pies make great mini desserts for parties
Making hor d’Oeuvres types of desserts is simple for your guests to grab and enjoy. I love my pumpkin pie recipe and for Thanksgiving this year, I attempted to make it into a mini version and it worked! After creating the mini pumpkin pies, I realized you could use my idea to make any pie into a mini version and wanted to share it with anyone interested. Read on to learn how to make any pie miniature.
You could make these as mini quiches too
According to everythingpies.com, a mini pie is any pie less than or equal to six inches in diameter, so yes, this is a mini pie recipe! It could be called a tart though, as a tart is an open pie shell with a filling. You can call it what you like, but I like mini pie best.
Here’s a one minute video tutorial to see how I created my mini pies:
What you’ll need:
12 section silicone tart pan (this recipe will go much faster if you have more than one, I bought this tart pan on TEMU for about $3.50)
Any pie recipe (I used my pumpkin pie recipe)
2 frozen pie crusts
3 inch circle cookie cutter
Optional: This rolling pin and silicone pastry mat set from Temu is $16
See me make the full pumpkin pie version in my short video below or via my YouTube channel @carolynjbraden:
How-To:
1. First, I set out my two frozen pie crusts so they could thaw. With my kitchen temperature, the complete thaw out only took about an hour.
2. Next, I made the batter for my Cashew Cream Pumpkin pie recipe. You can get this recipe by clicking here. Use your favorite pie recipe if you want.
Pressing out the pie crust
3. Then I set one thawed pie crust out onto a floured non-stick surface. I used a silicone baking mat as my surface.
Making the mini crusts
4. Press the thawed pie crust out onto the surface using your hands or a rolling pin. Roll or press with your hands to adjoin any pieces that come loose.
Mini pie crust
5. Press the circle cookie cutter into the pie crust over and over until you have enough circles for your tart pan. I had enough pie crust for one tart pan, but needed to press together some of the excess dough and re-roll it out to make more.
6. Roll out the second pie crust to make more circles for your second tart pan if you need to.
It’s okay if your crusts aren’t perfect
7. Place your tart pan onto a baking sheet (as mine was very flexible and needed a flat surface) and place the pie crust circles into each tart cavity. I pressed mine down a bit and they were not all perfect. This was okay as they still bake up the same.
I used an ice cream scoop for the batter
8. Pour your pie filling into each pie crust lined tart cavity. I used an ice cream scoop to make it easy. Place in oven and bake for the recipe recommended time. You MAY need to lessen the time as I did. The pies will bake much faster as mini versions that as a whole pie.
Mini pumpkin pies before baking
9. When baked, allow the pies to cool completely and pop out of your mini tart pan. Mine popped out very easily as my pan was silicone. Continue the process of making mini pies until you are out of batter and pie crust. My batter made a little over 24 mini pies.
The completed mini pumpkin pies
10. Top with whipped cream or leave as is.
11. Eat and enjoy!
You do not have to use a pre-made pie crust and can make your own pie crust dough. I did to speed up the process. You can also use this method to make mini-quiches and more! Making miniature versions of food is fun and kids would definitely love helping do this. You could use a regular muffin tin instead BUT either heavily grease it first OR use a muffin tin liner so they can be removed easily.
See what you can miniaturize in the kitchen! Just remember, if you are counting calories, be mindful of how many mini-pies you ingest. It will be hard to eat just one! ;)
If you love this article, we know you’ll love this one too: Austin’s Roasted Broccoli Quiche Recipe
Carolyn J. (C.J.) Braden is a regular contributor and editor for Carolyn’s Blooming Creations. She has been featured in numerous media publications such as InStyle Magazine, on HGTV, on Bustle.com, and more. She is the author of the books Georgia McMasters in Amethyst Lake Cemetery, How To Be Yourself: 3 Ways To Help You Being You, and the illustrator for the children’s book Bridging Connections. She is a former classroom teacher that now dedicates her life to educating others on how to live their most healthy, creative and happy life. Learn more about her visiting our About Us page.