These adorable mini vegan pumpkin pies made in a cupcake tin and are a great way to take advantage of the delicious seasonal fruits and spices in Autumn. They’re easy to make and are the perfect treat if you’re celebrating bonfire night, Thanksgiving, or even just a cozy Autumnal day.
Mini Vegan Pumpkin Pies
Pumpkin season is here. You can’t go into any cafe or coffee shop without seeing ‘Pumpkin Spiced Latte, or Pumpkin Cakes’. Even supermarkets and online store are jumping on the hype selling Pumpkin spice scented candles and body products. But the star of the show will always be the classic Pumpkin Pie! It’s truly the icon of the moment. pumpkin pie is the original source for our Autumnal Pumpkin fix.
Pumpkin pie is an extremely popular recipe and bake this time of year and I’ve been requested on several occasions to make mini versions, so that’s exactly what i’ve done!
What is a mini pie?
Take the most loved large (sharing sized) pumpkin pie, shrink it down into individual pies and there you’ll have the most delicious, easy and delicious mini pumpkin pies. Instead of a large pie, we bake the crust and pie filling in cupcake cases to give them that bite-sized look. If you love these mini pumpkin pies, you’ll LOVE my Mini Vegan Banoffee Pies.
Why you’ll love these mini pumpkin pies
- They are vegan.
- Can easily be made gluten-free with the use of gluten-free biscuits for the base. The biscuit I use are the Free From Digestive Biscuits from Sainsburys and Schär Gluten-free Digestives.
- They’re fun to make with kids.
- They have pumpkin puree inside which naturally colours the pie filing a beautiful orange.
- Spiced with yummy pumpkin spice.
- Bake time & cool time are a lot quicker than a regular sized pumpkin pie.
- Decoration is minimal with a bulb of whipped cream.
- They’re handheld & super easy to serve.
- Great ‘make ahead of time’ dessert.
- Can be stored in the fridge and enjoyed at any time
How to make mini vegan pumpkin pies
(see full instructions in the recipe card below)
- Make the biscuit base: My base yields 6 bases (for cupcake cases) and only contains 2 ingredients- woohoo! You can easily adapt this recipe to be gluten-free by using plain gluten-free biscuits. Melt butter and blitz up the biscuits. Combine the two then divide into cupcake cases. Use your hand to press the mixture up the sides of the cases to create a cup effect for the pie to sit in.
- Make the pumpkin pie filling: It’s super easy to make. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl with a whisk. That’s it, you’re done. Alternately, blend it up in a blender or food processor to make it super smooth. Pour or spoon onto the bases and pop into the oven to bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Bake until the bases and top of the pie filling is browned: These are easy to bake and cool faster than a regular sized pumpkin pie. Keep an eye on the pies at the 25 minute mark, you don’t want them to burn.
- Cool & serve: Decorate the pies when they’re cool. Pipe a bulb of dairy-free whipping cream to the top of each pie, finishing them off with a light dusting of ground cinnamon.
- Decoration: Optional extra decoration, but why not make some adorable pastry leaves. They’re like the cherry on top of the cake’, but they’re actually the ‘leaf on top of the pie’. Not the same saying but divine added extra which makes all the difference.
Looking for more Autumnal desserts? Check these out:
Vegan Caramel Apple Crumbl Cookies
The BEST Vegan Carrot Cake Loaf
Vegan ‘Starbucks Copycat’ Caramel Apple Muffins
Flourless Vegan Chocolate Cake
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Mini Vegan Pumpkin Pies
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These adorable mini vegan pumpkin pies are a great way to take advantage of the delicious seasonal fruits and spiced in Autumn. They’re easy to make and are the perfect treat if you’re celebrating bonfire night, Thanksgiving, or even just a cozy Autumnal day. Vegan, no-egg, no-dairy and easily made gluten-free!
Ingredients
Ingredients for the base
- 160g of plain biscuits (use gluten / wheat-free for a gluten-free recipe)
- 100g of dairy-free block butter / margarine
Ingredients for the pumpkin filling
- 120g of pumpkin puree
- 70g of coconut cream
- 70g of light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
- 2 tablespoons of cornflour / cornstarch
Ingredients for the topping
- 150g of dairy-free whipping cream
- Ground cinnamon (for dusting)
Instructions
Method (base)
- Line a cupcake tin with 6 cupcake liners, set aside and pre-heat oven to 180°C degrees c fan.
- Crumble the biscuits into a blender and blitz until you have fine crumbs.
- Add the dairy-free butter into a saucepan, heat on low until melted. Add the melted butter into the biscuits and pulse again to combine.
- Add 2-3 tablespoons of buttery biscuit base into each cupcake case, and compact with something flat, like the base of a small glass or rolling pin. You want the mixture to go up the sides of the case, creating a cup shape for the pie filling to sit in.
Method (pumkin pie filling)
- Add all of the pumpkin pie ingredients into a medium sized mixing bowl and whisk with a hand whisk until smooth. Alternatively, add it into a blender and blend until smooth.
- Divide the mixture between the cases. Bake in the middle of the oven for 25-30 minutes. You’ll know they’re baked when they’re shiny on top and the filling feels firm to the touch (it should wiggle slightly).
- Once baked, remove from the oven allow to cool fully before topping.
Method (cream)
- In a stand mixer or bowl with an electric hand whisk, whisk the dairy-free whipping cream until soft peaks. Make sure the pies are 100% cool before adding on the cream. Transfer into a piping bag fitted with a round tip nozzle, then pipe a bulb on top of each pie.
- Dust each pie with a light sprinkle of ground cinnamon. I added on a shortcrust pastry leaf for decoration which is completely optional.
Notes
To store: Store the pies in a sealed container in the fridge, allow to come to room temperature before serving. Best eaten within 3 days of making.
Coconut Cream: Use the thick white cream from a can of coconut cream. Place a tin of full fat coconut cream in the fridge overnight, open the tin upside down and scrape out the thick cream.
What dairy-free whipping cream to use? My favourites are the ‘Elmlea Plant Based Alternative Cream’, or ‘The Coconut Collaborative Double Cream’.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25-30 minutes
- Category: Tarts and pies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
where is the cream cheese in the ingredients? 8oz?
Author
Hello,
This recipe doesn’t require any cream cheese, alternatively I used coconut cream which gives it a super light and creamy flavour! honestly one of the best pumpkin pie fillings i’ve ever tried! Happy baking x
In the Method (cream) section, it says whisk the dairy-free whipping cream and cream cheese until soft peaks. Are you using vegan cream cheese in the filling and the cream? How much is used to make the cream?
Thanks in advance…excited to make these!
What is the name of the Biscuits? I live in USA.
Author
Hello, I used vegan friendly digestive biscuits, they’re a sweet biscuit. Im sure you can get something similar in the US! Graham crackers would be a great alternative! Hope this helps xx
what biscuits did you use? AKA cookies, right?
Author
Hello, Yes! I use digestive biscuits. You can use graham crackers or your favourite cookie, you might just need to adjust the amount of melted butter so that it feels like wet sand. You want the mixture to hold its shape! xxx
Hi! In the pumpkins filling instructions, says the spices but you are repeating ginger, is that correct? Or should be another spice?
Thank you! Recipe just awesome 🤩
What can I use instead of cornstarch. I can’t eat corn.
Author
Hello,
Unfortunately the cornstarch is essential in the recipe. If you remove it, the filling will be very runny. If you’re looking for a delicious pumpkin recipe, you’ll LOVE my mini pumpkin cheesecakes, i’ll tag them for you below! xxxx
Jay, try using potato starch (not potato flour, it’s a different beast). I use it instead of cornstarch in many recipes. Tapioca starch (not tapioca flour) would be another alternative to try. Hope this helps.
In other recipes, I love using arrowroot starch. It’s a wonderful thickener for stews.
Is there a reason ginger is listed twice? Is this an error? Thanks
Author
Hello,
Thank you, my mistake, deleted the typo! xx
These were a hit! Made for an apple pressing party. Guests and host loved them. I used Honey Graham Crackers for the “biscuit” crust and it was excellent. They are super rich and creamy, and I served them with vegan whipped cream (yum). I would maybe consider cutting the sugar down a bit, as I am not a huge fan of super sweet desserts (though most people thought they were perfect.)
Hi Holly. How are you. I tried most of the recipes they all good even my brother orders me your book as a gift from him. I need to ask you if you do you have also video for your recipes.
Author
Hello, aw thank you! I share videos on Instagram and tiktok! You can find me @thelittleblogofvegan xx
I know it won’t be vegan anymore if I do this but would I be able to whip some heavy cream until thickened and use that instead of the coconut cream?
Can fresh pumpkin purée be used ,
These were very good! I used gluten free ginger snaps. I was a little confused on how many cookies to use, so I kept adding cookies until I got the right consistency. I got a lot of compliments!
Yummy but texture failed. My pie crumbled. And I didn’t notice the ratio became 2/3 pie and 1/3 filling. Sad. I can do it again, this time maybe I press harder for the base to be firm, refrigerate it a while and then add cornstarch as well which I missed…