Mini Pumpkin Pie Cookies

This place sure looks familiar. I'm back - and I've brought with me the perfect dessert for your Thanksgiving table - or pretty much any of the other 364 days of the year. I present: mini pumpkin pie cookies. A crisp cookie shell, sweet pumpkin filling, and crumbly streusel topping in an adorable bite-sized container will be a welcome addition to any meal, snack or... breakfast. 

I used a mini-muffin pan for these to keep them in the tiny size I wanted, but if you wanted larger ones - and to save a little time - you could certainly use a muffin tin or other tart pans. I know there are a few different components to this recipe, but - like I did - you can make the dough and the topping a day or two before and store in the fridge - and the filling takes about two minutes to mix together.


Because they're so tiny you don't need all that much of the pumpkin puree - if you buy a can you'll likely have 2/3 of it leftover. What to do with that? How about pumpkin whoopie pies, pumpkin pie bars or pumpkin snickerdoodles?

 

I know I've been a bit absent around here lately, but I'm still pretty present around other corners of the world wide web: find me on Twitter or Instagram, and you can find my recipes over on the New York Jewish Week website; recent entries include a mushroom-leek phyllo tart, a feta-sweet potato flatbread and salted chocolate-drizzled popcorn.

Recipe: (makes about 36 mini cookies)

Dough: 

2 sticks (1 cup/200g) butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
1/4 cup (30g) confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups (250g) flour

Filling:
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup milk or soy milk
3 tablespoons (40g) sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Topping:
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/2 cup (60g) flour
1/4 cup (50g) light brown sugar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Beat the butter, sugars and salt for the dough together until light and fluffy. Add in the egg yolks and vanilla and beat until smooth. Mix in the flour until just combined. Pull the dough out of the bowl, knead in any remaining flour streaks gently, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes or up to two days.

For the streusel topping, melt the butter, then add the flour, sugars, salt and cinnamon and stir with a fork until crumbly. Set aside. (If it clumps, chill in the fridge and scrape with a fork for more crumbly pieces.

Mix all the ingredients for the filling together in a bowl.

Press about a tablespoon of dough in the bottom of mini-muffin cups. Press a centimeter or two up the sides of the tins. Top the dough with a teaspoon or two of the pumpkin filling, and sprinkle with the streusel.

Bake on 350 F for 18 to 22 minutes until golden brown. Cool for 15 to 20 minutes before removing from the molds and cooling completely. Best served on the same day, will store for up to three days.