What’s cuter than a mini pumpkin pie? A keto, gluten-free and high protein mini pumpkin pie! These irresistible tiny pies taste like fall, bake really fast, are easy to make, and even easier to eat!
These darling baby pumpkin pies have all the flavor of a full sized pumpkin pie concentrated on a bite sized package! I recommend 2 bites per mini pie, 3 if you’re in for the experience, but I could probably do one on a dare 😅
Ingredient notes
For the crust
Almond flour and butter – The keto friendly flour is going to simulate crushed Graham crackers, and the melted butter is going to make it moist enough to stick together when you press, forming the crusts.
Powdered keto sweetener – The powdered sweetener is much better for the texture of the crust, and also mixes better with the almond flour, coating each grain to form a “one sweet thing”.
Use a sugar equivalent sweetener (instead of a concentrated powder, such as pure stevia or monk fruit). If you don’t have powdered sweetener, it’s very easy to make it yourself! See here how to make DIY keto sweetener, also in powdered version.
Bee pollen – this is my keto take of a honey Graham cracker crust – I love this flavor! To make it keto, instead of real honey I use bee pollen, which has the concentrated taste of honey with zero sugar.
Blackstrap molasses – This ingredient can be a little dividing – it’s sugar, but in the amount I use here I see it as a spice. Only 1/4th teaspoon is enough to give the whole crust a delicious, ultra rich “brown sugar” note. It’s not essential though, so you can leave it out.
For the mini pies filling
Pumpkin puree – I have used both canned pumpkin puree and homemade for this recipe and either works well! If your homemade puree is too watery – think of the texture of a canned puree to compare – I recommend you blot away some of the excess moisture before using.
Heavy cream – or heavy whipping cream (35% fat or more) makes the keto mini pumpkin pies much creamier and richer in texture. Fat is flavor!
Egg – just one egg, because these are baby small pies. You still need one, though!
Whey protein – Let’s make eating mini pumpkin pie a nutritious affair? The macros on these little pies surely got a satisfying bump from 2 whole scoops of whey! I used unflavored whey isolate, but you can also use vanilla if you have it instead.
Sweetener and spices – You can use any sweetener you prefer here, and I give you a list of spices (cinnamon, ginger, clove and nutmeg) that together create the perfect fall flavor to make your pumpkin pie sing. You can change it all for pumpkin pie spice mix.
There’s another spice I added, though, that you’d need to include (even if you use a ready pumpkin pie spice mix): black pepper. It’s just a little bit, and for sure you have some. Don’t leave it out! It really opens up the flavor, tying all the warmth of the spices together!
How to make
Keto honey Graham cracker crust
I have a lot more information and detailed step by step photos on my recipe for keto honey Graham cracker crust if you wish to look. This is about same recipe, but with the ingredients halved (from what a whole pie would take). But here’s a rundown:
First mix all the dry ingredients. Then melt the butter, and add to the butter the wet ingredients (blackstrap molasses and the bee pollen diluted in warm water), just for easier mixing.
Pour the butter into the dry ingredients and mix them well until all the almond flour is moist and crumbly. Then just divide the “honey Graham cracker” crumbs equally among the mini pumpkin pie liners and press against the bottom, forming the crust.
When it comes to how the crust is (or not) going to be cooked, you have 3 options to choose from:
1. Just straight to the oven as is: It’s the easiest and fastest option, it works, but the crust will be quite pale and the flavor won’t fully develop as the mini pumpkin pies stay in the oven so little. Still good, though!
2. Blind bake the crust: Here you make the crust as normal, but quickly bake only the naked crust a little bit, so they start browning and get some crunch before adding the pumpkin pie batter.
3. Toast the almond flour on a pan: I love using this method for no-bake pies, but it’s also perfect here as the baking time is small and the crust is completely submerged.
Just toast the almond flour on a pan until it gets golden brown. Mix the flour around no stop until then, because it’s fairly easy to get burnt. Then, just wait to cool down completely and use the toasted flour in the crust recipe as normal.
Option 3 is a bit more work, but it’s definitely my favorite. The flavor of the almond flour toasted on a pan is just so much more intense and fragrant, it’s really amazing.
Protein pumpkin pie batter
Mix all the ingredients for the custard with a large whisk, until it’s very smooth and lump free. (This might be easier or harder depending of how your whey protein behaves. The one I used dissolves quite easily.)
Then, just fill in the mini pie liners prepared with the crust. If you blind baked the crust, wait a little bit so it’s not super hot anymore. And take into the oven, for just about 12-14 minutes, until the tops are set.
Remove from the oven and wait for the to cool down before topping with whipped cream and gobbling them up!
Storing and freezing instructions
If you don’t finish these straight away, they need to be kept refrigerated to stay fresh. They are good to eat straight from the fridge, or you can pull them out about one hour before serving to let them come up to room temperature.
If you want to freeze the mini pumpkin pies, you can individually wrap them in parchment paper and put them inside an airtight container or freezer bag.
Keto Mini Pumpkin Pie Bites
Ingredients
Keto Graham cracker crust
- 1 cup (110 g) almond flour
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) butter melted
- 2 tablespoons (20 g) powdered sweetener
- ½ teaspoon bee pollen diluted in 1 teaspoon of hot water (optional, for honey flavor)
- ¼ teaspoon blackstrap molasses
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt if using unsalted butter
Pumpkin pie bites
- ⅔ cup (165 g) pumpkin puree
- 3 tablespoons (45 g) heavy cream
- 2 scoops (60 g) unflavored whey protein powder
- 1 egg
- 1 to 2 tablespoons keto baking sweetener (See notes)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder plus more to sprinkle on top as garnish
- ¼ teaspoon ginger powder
- ⅛ teaspoon clove powder
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
- 1 pinch black pepper
- whipped cream optional, for topping
Instructions
Keto Graham cracker crust
- Start by lightly toasting the almond flour on a dry pan, constantly mixing until it gets golden. Wait for it to cool down and then proceed with the recipe (Alternatively, you can skip this step and then blind bake the crust instead, but toasting the flour gives better flavor)
- Mix all the dry ingredients: almond flour, powdered erythritol, cinnamon and salt.
- Melt the butter. Dissolve the bee pollen in one teaspoon warm water, and add it to the melted butter, together with the blackstrap molasses (if using) and mix.
- Mix well the melted butter with the powder ingredients until it's an evenly moist crumb.
- Divide the moist crumbs into the silicone liners or muffin pan (greased with butter) and press down to form the crust.
Pumpkin pie bites
- Mix all the pumpkin pie ingredients with a large whisk, until the batter is very smooth and lump free.
- Pour the pumpkin pie batter into the liners prepared with bottom crusts and take them into the pre-heated oven at 170 °C (340 °F) until tops are set (about 12-14 minutes)
- Remove from the oven and let them cool down before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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