Mini Southern Pecan Pies

 

Since everyone starts thinking "healthy" as you stuff your face with food during the holidays, I decided to make a twist on a classic family recipe this Thanksgiving. I took my grandmother's delicious Southern Pecan Pie, and made it into bite sized versions, so that no one would feel guilty about trying just one. 

I took a pre-made pie crust (2 actually) and cut small circles in it using my stainless steel 1/2 cup measuring cup. It was about 2.5" in diameter, so you could use a Tupperware lid too... whatever you have that is close to this size. I just cut them out with a knife, and then pressed the dough circles into my mini-muffin pan. Then I made the recipe below, and simply spooned the contents into each mini crust. I baked them for the same amount of time as a regular pie, and they turned out just perfect! Try them with your favorite pie filling for a small but savory dessert!

Southern Pecan Pie

Ingredients:

1 cup Sugar

4 Eggs

1 1/4 cup Dark Corn Syrup

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 tsp. Vanilla

1 1/2 cup broken Pecan pieces (make them small for the mini pies)

1 9" pie crust (or 2- 9" pie crusts for minis)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan, boil the sugar and corn syrup together for 2-3 minutes. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl, and make sure you don't make them too stiff. Slowly pour the hot syrup into the eggs, stirring as you pour. Stir in the butter, vanilla, and pecans. Spoon into the pie crust(s) and bake for 45 minutes.