These Mini Pumpkin Pies with Caramelized Pecans are the perfect fall dessert, especially during the week of Thanksgiving! Mini almond flour pie crusts are baked, filled with a creamy no-bake pumpkin mousse, and topped with caramelized pecans.
These mini pumpkin pies are the perfect ending to a large holiday meal, plus they will keep fresh throughout the weekend for when your food coma subsides! These are also a perfect snack to share during a dessert exchange this holiday season.
During the holidays, there are always a lot of things going on. People stopping by, phone calls, and lots of cooking. I definitely burned my fair share of recipes.
The Sharp Superheated Steam Countertop Oven heats up instantly (no preheating!), bakes 30% faster than a conventional oven, and then cools off fairly quickly. I often have left dishes in the oven after the baking time finished, and I don’t have to worry about the dish being ruined. In fact, I left a batch of these mini pie crusts in the oven for a couple of hours, and they were perfectly baked when I remembered to take them out and fill them.
I like to use a piping bag to fill these crusts, but you could easily spoon some pumpkin filling in. The pecan topping is so pretty and will cover a lot of the shape anyway!
Mini Pumpkin Mousse Pies are the perfect dessert because:
- The creamy pumpkin filling is a cross between cheesecake and a fluffy mousse — and is made with just 4 ingredients! How much easier could you ask for?
- The soft and buttery crusts are easy to make almond flour pie crust.
- A crunchy caramelized pecan topping makes the perfect garnish. If you have a nut allergy, you could substitute with chocolate chips.
- Cuteness overload! Small, perfectly shaped mini pies will capture your guests’ attention in a heartbeat!
To make the adorable mini pie crusts, you’ll need:
- A 3-inch flower-shaped cookie cutter.
- A mini muffin pan (I like this silicone mini muffin pan)
After making a batch of this perfect almond flour pie crust, roll it out on parchment paper, and then freeze the thin layer of pie dough.
Cut out flower shapes, and add them to your mini muffin pan. They will still be frozen, so be patient and wait until they come to room temperature before attempting to press them down into the holes. If you skip this step, the dough will crack and ruin your adorable flower cutouts.
Bake the mini crusts, and then pop out of the mini muffin tin. Then you’re ready for the fun part!
The Best Creamy Pumpkin Mousse Filling – Only 4 Ingredients!
Almond flour pie crust browns (and burns!) much more quickly than a traditional wheat crust (you have been warned), so I opted for a no-bake pumpkin mousse filling rather than trying to bake the crusts long enough to cook a pumpkin custard.
It’s so simple to prepare this pumpkin mousse. Trust me on this one.
Easy 4 Ingredient Pumpkin Mousse:
- Canned Pumpkin
- Cream Cheese
- Pumpkin Pie Spice
- White Chocolate Chips (or a white chocolate bar)
Process all the ingredients together and mix until light and fluffy. Then, pipe the chilled mixture into the pie crusts.
You could stop there (and your guests would still gobble these up!), but if you can add a crunchy caramelized pecan topping, why not?
These easy caramelized pecans are made in the Sharp Superheated Steam Countertop Oven, which is my go-to everyday oven. It takes 10 minutes to melt the sugar, toast the pecans, and take these mini pumpkin mousse pies over the top!
I love my Sharp Superheated Steam Countertop Oven for holiday baking. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I use it year-round, but during the holidays, oven space is always limited. Having a second oven means hot appetizers and freshly baked desserts all day when my guests are oven.
Mini Pumpkin Pies
Mini almond flour pie crusts, baked and filled with a creamy pumpkin mousse. These little pie bites are taken over the top with a crunch caramelized pecan topping.
- 1 Almond Flour Pie Crust unbaked dough
Pumpkin Mousse
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips or 1 100g bar
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Candied Pecans
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup pecans
- 1 tbsp butter
- Prepare almond flour pie crust, and roll out in parchment paper into a thin layer (about 1/16 inch thick). Try to get the crust as evenly rolled as possible, so the mini crusts bake evenly.
- Freeze pie crust for at least 30 minutes, until very stiff.
- Use a 3 inch flower cookie cutter to cut shapes out of the pie crust. Add a flower to the holes of a mini muffin baking tray. Lay the frozen pie crust shapes over the holes, and allow to warm up before trying to gently press the edges down into the muffin tin. I find they tear if you press down on the center, but go in easily if the edges are pressed towards the center.
- Bake the mini pie crusts in the Sharp Superheated Steam Countertop Oven on Bake/Reheat at 325º F for 13 minutes.
- If using a conventional oven, preheat oven to 325º F, and then bake pie crusts for 17-19 minutes, or until crusts have just begun to brown.
- Add pumpkin mousse to a piping bag with a large tip, and pipe into the mini pie crusts. Top with candied pecans.
Pumpkin Mousse
- Melt white chocolate by adding white chocolate chips to a small dish, and microwaving 20-30 seconds at a time, stirring in between. Be careful not to burn – white chocolate burns easily.
- In a food processor, add pumpkin, cream cheese, and pumpkin pie spice. Process until fully mixed, and then drizzle in melted white chocolate and quickly process again so it incorporates into the mixture.
- Refrigerate pumpkin mousse until ready to use.
Candied Pecans
- Melt butter.
- Add pecans to a baking tray, and drizzle with melted butter. Sprinkle coconut sugar on the top. Toss to coat, or use fingers to scrape as much coconut sugar onto the pecans as possible.
- Add to the Sharp Superheated Steam Countertop oven and Bake/Reheat at 325º F for 10- minutes.
- If using a conventional oven, preheat to 325º F, and bake pecans for 14 minutes.
