This Thanksgiving, make your pies mini
Mini pies may be the secret to a stress-free celebration.
Date
November 4, 2026
What’s the one food you most look forward to at Thanksgiving?
For some it’s the turkey. For others it’s the array of sides. But for many of us bakers, let’s admit it — our thoughts skip right over the apps and main meal and go straight to the pies, whether it's apple, pumpkin, pecan, or all of them together.
The problem is that for smaller gatherings, the need for multiple pies diminishes. Still, how can you bear to choose between apple, pumpkin, and pecan?
What if you could enjoy all your favorite Thanksgiving pies — without lots of leftovers?
Enter the mini pie, a great way to showcase an array of pies and have them all disappear by the end of the day.
Here’s a potential hosting scenario this year: You’re serving six close family members (including yourself) at Thanksgiving dinner; you want to offer pumpkin, apple, and pecan pie. So you pull out your mini muffin pan and use it to make mini pies in a variety of different flavors. Everyone can enjoy one mini pie immediately, one later, and squirrel one away for the next day.
Mini pies can reduce Thanksgiving stress
And mini pies aren't just handy for smaller gatherings — they can also make life a little easier during the frenetic rush of food prep in the days before Turkey Day. Helpfully, you can make these pies well ahead of Thanksgiving; they can be prepared, baked, and then frozen for up to a few weeks before serving.
Once cool, wrap each pie individually in plastic, then bag them all airtight and freeze. When you’re ready to serve, unwrap, thaw, and reheat briefly: 5 to 10 minutes in a 350°F oven or about 20 seconds (per pie) in a microwave will bring them back to life.
How to make mini pumpkin pies
These adorable pies have the same creamy, lightly spiced filling as a traditional pumpkin pie, just in handheld form. To make them, you'll prepare a typical pie dough (we like our All-Butter Pie Crust), then roll it out and use cookie cutters or an overturned glass to stamp out 3" circles.
Because these mini pies have a higher crust-to-filling ratio, you don't need to prebake the crust to avoid a soggy bottom. Just place the pie dough rounds in your mini muffin pan, fill with about a tablespoon of the pumpkin custard, and bake.
Another benefit: The smaller amount of filling makes it easier to nail the bake. You don't have to look for a perfect amount of jiggle in your pie before removing from the oven — just bake until the exposed edges are golden brown and the custard is set in the center.
Get the recipe: Mini Pumpkin Pies
How to make mini pecan pies
Turn to our Pecan Tassies recipe — a beloved Southern dessert, pecan tassies are basically just bite-size pecan pies. This recipe uses a tender, unsweetened cream cheese pastry, which cradles a gooey nut filling sweetened with brown sugar (no corn syrup).
Prepare the crust dough and make sure to give it ample time to chill — it will be sticky. Once chilled and easy to work with, roll it out and use cookie cutters or an overturned glass to stamp out 3" circles. Place into your mini muffin pan, add the pecan custard filling, and top with a final flourish of additional pecans. Bake the mini pies until the exposed edges are golden brown and the centers have puffed.
Get the recipe: Pecan Tassies
How to make mini apple pies
We’ve saved perhaps the most beloved pie for last: apple. These mini apple pies are a bit more involved than the pumpkin or pecan pies. You need to precook the filling, and you have to choose how to top them. That said, they’re totally worth the effort (and the filling can be prepared up to five days in advance; store the cooled filling, covered, in the refrigerator until ready to bake).
Once you've precooked the diced apple filling on the stovetop to remove excess liquid, assemble your pies in your mini muffin pan by lining with rounds of pie dough and adding the apples. You can then choose how to top them:
- For double-crust mini pies: Cut 2" rounds from the dough and place each round on top to finish one double-crust mini pie.
- For lattice-topped mini pies: Using a sharp knife or pizza wheel to cut the dough into small strips to weave over your pie; you’ll need five strips for each lattice-topped mini pie.
- For crumb-topped mini pies: Sprinkle with your prepared crumb topping (directions are included in the Tips at the bottom of the recipe page) until the filling is covered.
Get the recipe: Mini Apple Pies
A final thought
You may be questioning whether making mini Thanksgiving pies is more trouble than it's worth. But helpfully, the techniques involved are very approachable — mix, roll, fill, bake — and the resulting pies are both delicious and just plain fun. Have you ever wanted a whole Thanksgiving pie just for yourself? You can have it — in miniature. Happy baking!
Do you say you won't dare bake pie because you're unsure of your skills with a rolling pin? Check out these other easy no-roll crusts: No-Roll Pie Crust and Graham Cracker Crust.
Cover photo by Patrick Marinello; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne. Additional contributions from PJ Hamel.
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