Description

Mini pumpkin pies with ginger cookie crust are the perfect Thanksgiving or Holiday dessert. Topped with homemade maple bourbon whipped cream they are the ultimate personal-sized dessert.

Ingredients

Units Scale

Ginger cookie crust

1 cup blanched almond flour
1/3 cup coconut flour Coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons Ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon Salt
1 tablespoon Coconut sugar
2 tablespoons Coconut oil, melted
3 tablespoons molasses
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Maple bourbon pumpkin pie filling

1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 1/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 whole egg
2 egg yolks
3 teaspoons pure Vanilla extract
2 1/2 ounces bourbon (substitute with milk if you want to omit)
3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (click here for the recipe)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Optional: Bourbon maple whipped cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon + 1/2 teaspoon pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon bourbon (see notes)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Make the ginger cookie crust batter: To a medium sized mixing bowl add the blanched almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, coconut sugar, ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, salt, and whisk until well combined. Stir in the melted coconut oil, egg, molasses, and vanilla until everything is well mixed and a thick batter has formed. Cover and chill the batter in the freezer for 15 minutes. Trust me, this helps to prevent sticky hands.
Prepare: While the batter is chilling preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a standard nonstick muffin tin, set aside. Note: if you aren’t using a nonstick muffin tin you will want to cut strips of parchment paper to add to the greased muffin tin to prevent sticking. The pieces of paper don’t have to cover the entire muffin tin, just part of it.
Form the cookie crusts: Use your hands to roll the batter into 1 to 2 inch balls and place into the prepared muffin tin cavities. once you have worked through all your dough use your fingers to press the cookie dough into the muffin tins so that it forms a crust, push some of the dough halfway up the sides. Make sure there are no holes in the dough. Chill again in the freezer for 15 mins.
Reduce the maple syrup: Optional step (see notes), makes for an extra flavorful pie filling. Add the maple syrup to a small sauce pot. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, whisking constantly – don’t allow it to boil. The maple syrup should thicken just slightly. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool slightly.
Make the pumpkin pie filling: To a large mixing bowl whisk together the the pumpkin puree, slightly cooled reduced maple syrup, whole egg and egg yolks, vanilla, bourbon (or milk), pumpkin pie spice, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
Bake the cookie crusts: Bake the cookie crusts for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and if they have puffed up press them gently press the bottoms down with the back of a spoon.
Fill the pumpkin pies: While the crusts are still hot fill the pumpkin pies with about 2 tablespoons of the pumpkin filling. Tap on the counter a few times to smooth them out.
Bake: Bake the pumpkin pies for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the filling is no longer jiggly.
Cool: Allow the pumpkin pies to cool completely before removing. To remove them either use the parchment paper tabs to help you lift them out or use a butter knife to gently run around the edges of each one and release them.
Store/chill: The pumpkin pies are best served after they have chilled for at least 2 hours. You can make them up to 2 days in advance. Store them in an air tight container that’s lined with 2 paper towels on the bottom to soak up any moisture.
Optional step: make the bourbon maple whipped cream: About 30 minutes before you want to serve the pumpkin pies place a large mixing bowl, measuring cup, and the beaters from your hand mixer into the freezer for 15 minutes (fridge for 30 minutes) to chill. When you’re ready to make the whipped cream add the cream, maple syrup, and bourbon (if using), and vanilla to the chilled bowl. Whipping on a low speed for about 8 to 10 minutes, stopping to scrape the sides every 2 minutes, or until the whipped cream reaches stiff peaks. Be careful not to over whip the whipped cream otherwise you start to make butter. Keep in mind that fresh whipped cream is best when eaten right away, so do this just before serving the pies.
To serve the pumpkin pies: Just before serving dollop with the bourbon maple whipped cream (if using). There is no need to cut these pies, they are the perfect size for one serving. The fun part is that you don’t even need a plate or fork, you can just pick them up with your hands! Serve immediately and enjoy.

Notes

pumpkin pie spice – I love making my own – it’s so easy. Click here for the recipe.

Bourbon: The alcohol in the bourbon used in the pumpkin pie filling is cooked off so it is safe to serve to children. However, if you don’t want to use it then simply swap the bourbon for milk. For the whipped cream, there is such a small amount of bourbon in the whipped cream that it should also be safe to serve to anyone – just keep in mind that it won’t be cooked off in the whipped cream. However, feel free to completely omit it the bourbon from the whipped cream, it will still be tasty!

Maple syrup: I highly recommend using a good quality pure maple syrup here, grade B is perfect for baking. Don’t use pancake syrup, it’s not going to yield the same result, especially when cooking the maple syrup down for the pie filling. That being said, you can easily skip the step where you reduce the maple syrup and just add the maple syrup as is – you want scant 1/2 cup of maple syrup for the filling.

Whipped cream: you will have some whipped cream leftover. It is hard to make a smaller amount because it won’t whip up very easily with less in the bowl. The leftover whipped cream isn’t as good as the fresh but still good. You can stir it into coffee instead of creamer. Use it to top other desserts, or even dip fresh fruit in it. YUM!

Dairy free: To keep these pies dairy free omit the whipped cream or use a dairy free version.

Recipe heavily adapted from Ambitious kitchen. The ginger cookie crust is adapted from my gingerbread cookies.