Pies

These bite-sized Mini Bourbon Pecan Pies are undeniably delicious. And their tiny size makes them perfect for sharing. They would make great party food and also be very welcome at a cookie exchange.

Like I mentioned when sharing these No-Bake Bourbon Balls with you, I made these mini bourbon pecan pies for a bourbon-themed birthday party. What could be better?

You can feel free to dial back the amount of bourbon that’s added to these pies. However, since the party was bourbon-themed, I wanted to make sure that the bourbon flavor was pretty pronounced.

The recipe for the pie filling comes from Brown Eyed Baker, though I added bourbon and kosher salt.

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Bite-Sized Pecan Pies

Prep Time

3 mins

Cook Time

25 mins

Total Time

28 mins

 

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 48 mini pies

Ingredients

For the crust

• 4-5 pre-made, refrigerated pie crusts

For the filling

• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup pecans (plus more for topping), chopped
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbs unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup bourbon, see notes

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Lightly grease a mini muffin pan with butter or cooking spray.

To prepare the crust

1. Using a round cookie cutter, cut 48 2- to 3-inch rounds (slightly larger than the opening of the muffin tin openings) of pie dough from the pre-made, refrigerated pie crusts. 

2. Press one round of dough into each well of the mini muffin tin.

To make the filling

1. Mix all filling ingredients together and divide it evenly between the dough-lined muffin cups.

2. Sprinkle the extra chopped pecans evenly over the top of the unbaked pies.

3. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops of the pies are set. Cool for a few minutes in the muffin tin before carefully removing them to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

Recipe Notes

Notes: You can reduce the amount of bourbon (or omit it entirely) if you'd like. I wanted to make sure that the bourbon flavor was pretty pronounced in these mini pies, though, so I used 1/4 cup.

This Almost No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie has it all: cool and creamy peanut butter filling, a sweet chocolate graham cracker shell, and crunchy toppings! 

We can all agree that chocolate and peanut butter are flavor soulmates, right? I’d be hard pressed to identify a more complementary flavor duo. And I bet you would be, too.

Chocolate and peanut butter come together in this cool, frozen pie. It’s fast and easy enough to make on short notice. Plus it requires almost no baking. Just pop the crust into the oven for ~12 minutes, and the rest is just mixing, freezing, drizzling, and you’re done!

But also! Pi Day is nearly upon us! You know, pi = 3.14 … March 14th … 3/14.

Not that I really need much of an excuse to make pie… but I made this in celebration of the day. May your Pi Day be filled with this and other tasty, tasty pies.

The recipe for this pie comes from Handle the Heat.

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Almost No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

4 hrs

Total Time

4 hrs 20 mins

 

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 8

Ingredients

For the crust

• 14 whole chocolate graham crackers
• 1 tbs light brown sugar
• 7 tbs unsalted butter, melted

For the filling

• 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the topping

• melted peanut butter
• melted chocolate
• mini Reese's cups, roughly chopped
• peanut butter chips

Instructions

To make the crust

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the graham crackers and sugar until finely ground. Add the butter and pulse until moistened. Alternately, put the graham crackers in a large zip top bag and pulverize them with a rolling pin. Pour the crumbs into a bowl, add the melted butter, and mix until combined.
2. Press the graham cracker crumb mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until fragrant. Cool the crust completely on a wire rack.

To make the filling

1. In a large bowl, use an electric hand mixer to beat the cream cheese, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, and peanut butter until it is light and fluffy.
2. In a separate bowl, use an electric hand mixer to whip the heavy cream until thick and light. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar and vanilla extract and continue to whip until stiff peaks form.
3. Gently fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter/cream cheese mixture. Pour it into the prepared pie shell and freeze for 3 hours.

To make the topping

1. Drizzle the top with melted peanut butter and melted chocolate. Top with chopped mini Reese’s cups and peanut butter chips. Serve frozen or refrigerated.

Looking for more pies? Go sweet with Key Lime Pie or Peanut Butter and Chocolate Fudge Pie. Or maybe go savory and handheld with Butternut Squash, Kale, and Feta Hand Pies.

This strawberry crisp is everything you could want it to be: sweet, tangy, and subtly spiced  It is just about perfect when topped with vanilla ice cream.

I have a bad habit of buying 2-for-1 pints of strawberries, regardless of how many I already have at home.  I can’t help myself.  They’re so good at this time of year.  Plus, I’m usually eating them for breakfast with yogurt and for lunch on this strawberry balsamic salad, so buying a ton of strawberries usually isn’t a big deal.

However, this past week, I’ve been eating overnight oats, so the strawberries started piling up.  I thought a pie would be a nice way to use them up, but honestly?  I find pie a little fussy sometimes.  That’s probably mostly because I’m still not very good at making pie crust.

All was not lost, however, because we have the crisp.  All of the pie-like goodness without any of the fussiness.

Sweet, ripe strawberries are quartered, doused with lemon juice to help cut through the sweetness a bit, and coated in a flour and sugar mixture.

The strawberry goodness is then topped with a crumbly mixture of sugar, flour, butter, and pecans, for crunch.  Salt, for contrast and flavor enhancement, and cinnamon, for spice, are also added.

Want some more fruit crisp goodness?  This apple crisp from Joy the Baker is pretty darn fantastic, too. Need more treats that feature strawberries? This Mixed Berry Chia Seed Jam is 10/10 and these Strawberry Crumb Bars are pretty great, too!

This recipe is based on, but modified from, this one found on Craving Alaska.

5 from 1 vote

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Strawberry Crisp

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

45 mins

Total Time

55 mins

 

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Ingredients

For the filling

• 2 pints strawberries, hulled and quartered
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

For the topping -

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Add the strawberries, lemon juice, sugars, and all-purpose flour to a large bowl. Toss until the strawberries are well coated. Pour the strawberries into a 9-inch pie dish. Set aside.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, combine all ingredients for the topping. Mix until crumbly and everything is incorporated. Sprinkle it over the strawberries in an even layer.
4. Bake for 45 minutes. Allow the crisp to cool slightly.

Recipe Notes

Note: It's optional, but totally recommended, to eat this while still warm, topped with vanilla ice cream.

Pumpkin pies aren’t just for Thanksgiving! Trust me on this one. Give this version a whirl and add it to your holiday table.

Despite what I just said, I did make this pie for Thanksgiving this year. Nonetheless, it definitely would make a fabulous addition to your Christmas/other winter holiday table. Pumpkin and chocolate play really well together (check out this cheesecake or these cookies, for proof), and this pie is no exception. The pie itself is super creamy and flavorful (I find that pumpkin pies can be a bit bland), and the cookie crust is chocolatey and much easier and quicker than traditional pie crust.

This recipe came from the blog Spoon Fork Bacon.

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Pumpkin Pie with Chocolate Cookie Crust

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

1 hr 30 mins

Total Time

1 hr 50 mins

 

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 8 people

Ingredients

For the crust

• 12 oz. chocolate wafers or Oreo cookies (sans cream filling), finely ground
• 12 tbs unsalted butter, melted

For the pie filling

• 28 oz pumpkin puree
• 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 5 tbs unsalted butter, melted
• 3 1/2 tbs brown sugar, packed
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbs vanilla extract
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

For the whipped cream

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the garnish

• shaved milk chocolate

Instructions

To make the crust

1. In a medium bowl, combine the ground chocolate cookies and melted butter. Press the crust into the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan. Bake for 15 minutes, then allow it to cool slightly before filling.

To make the filling

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and nutmeg. Pour the filling into the prepared pie shell. Bake 55-70 minutes on the center rack, or until the filling is set, but is still slightly jiggly in the center.

2. Allow the pie to cool completely.

To make the whipped cream

1. Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until stiff peaks form. Top the pie with whipped cream and shaved chocolate.