Mini Thanksgiving Pies

I am the first to admit that baking is not my strong suit.  In fact, I never really baked at all until I had children (and had been married for 10 years before I had my first!)  Additionally, I am not a huge fan of sweets so never really self-motivated to bake!  But, now that my boys are getting older and know that desserts are a part of life, I bake - a little bit - more.

This year for Thanksgiving I decided to make mini-pies to please everyone's palette.  Our Thanksgiving table held 3 adults and 2 children, so I certainly didn't feel the need to produce multiple pies on a large scale.

To make the pies, I used this Nonstick Fluted Tart Pan from Williams Sonoma.




Because I'm not such a baker, everything was store bought.  I purchased refrigerated pie crusts (the kind that just rolled out into a circle) and canned fillings.  For our desserts we had cherry, apple, and pumpkin pies.  I followed the directions on the can to make each pie - just in a smaller scale.  I did make the full pumpkin pie filling recipe and had some left over. 

Once the pan was sprayed (I didn't want to take any chances with sticking), I unrolled the pie crust and cut circles about 2 inches larger than the space in the tart pan then fluted the edges. 

Looking at the photos, I should have taken the time to weave the lattice on my apple and cherry pies - but it was close to 10:00 p.m. at this point and I was being super lazy!  Next time, I will definitely take the time to do that - I'm not super happy about how the apple pie looks in these photos!

Overall, I ended up with 6 mini pumpkin pies, 3 cherry pies, and 3 apple pies.  These tiny pies were a huge hit with my family.  Once sliced into wedges, they were the perfect size for my 6 year old and 3 year old to pick up with their hands! 

I'm definitely going to do this again - but making sure to take the time to make them look pretty too!

Happy Thanksgiving from my kitchen to yours!