Portable Pumpkin Pies

My need for pumpkin is still going strong right now, and I recently got these really amazingly cute Pumpkin Pie Pocket molds as a gift, which just fed my need for making more pumpkin baked goods around here. And I have to say, I kind of really love this pocket mold...it took a couple of tries to perfect the technique, but the end result is worth it! You have a portable, self contained pumpkin pie!

Here is what you'll need-

the dough:
2 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
16 tbsp Earth Balance or your fav. vegan butter substitute
6 tbsp very cold water

the filling:
1 can pumpkin puree
1/2 c. soy milk
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
3 - 4 tbsp. corn starch

Using a food processor, begin the dough by pulsing together the flour, salt, and sugar a few times just to mix everything together. Then add the butter and pulse until it is a bit coarse and crumbly. Add your cold water to the dough, and begin to pulse until the dough comes together. If it is still crumbly, add one to two more tbsp of cold water, and pulse again. The dough should not be too moist where it feels sticky, but it should hold it's shape when squeezed together. Take a piece of saran wrap or parchment paper, and flatten out the dough into a large disc, and refrigerate for 2 hours. Using the cold water, and then refrigerating the dough will make the dough bake into a layered, flakey pie crust. This process keeps the "butter" from melting into the dough, instead, it stays in little even layered chunks forming a flakey dough when baked. Even when rolling out the dough, you might notice it is almost layered and not rolling out in one smooth piece.

While your dough is in the refrigerator, you can whisk together all of your ingredients for your pie filling, and place in the refrigerator until the dough is ready. And if you don't feel like having a pumpkin pie for your pockets, experiment and add anything your heart desires for your filling. I think it would be super with little diced up apples and cinnamon as well....might need to try that out...very, very soon.


Ok, back to the pies....fast forward 2 hours, take out the dough and let rest for about 5 minutes. I found taking about a handful of dough and rolling it out was easier than rolling out the whole thing at once. Roll out your dough until it is about 1/8" thick, and for these molds, you use the bottom part of each side to cut out the top and bottom layer. Then you place the bottom layer onto the matching bottom part of your mold, and press down to fit it to the edges. Add about 1 1/2 tbsp of your filling, set your top layer over your filling, and then press down on the mold. In my case for the mold I was using, it crimps down the edges nicely so everything is sealed and ready to go, just repeat this process until you run out of dough (this should make enough for 8 portable pies).

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees while you finish up your little pies, and then bake for about 15 - 20 minutes, or until the pies are a golden brown color. Let cool, and then enjoy!

Side Note: If you don't have any molds to use, you could easily use anything circular to cut out simple shapes, fill one layer, and then place another later on top, and simply use a fork to crimp the edges of your pies.