Nothing says fall like pie. This time of year I simply cannot wait until I have a few hours to set aside and make that buttery delicious dough with fresh hot filling bubbling through the cracks in the crust. I love the ceremony of making pie, the cutting of the flour and butter, the dusting of flour on wood before rolling out the dough, creating a filling and tasting it until it is just right. The decision of lattice, versus full top, verses crumb top…crimping the dough together. The ritual of making a pie reminds me so much of my mom.

Standing on a wooden stool with my tiny little rolling pin, pilfered from the ravioli tray kit, watching her hands deftly roll, cut and crimp. Flour covering the tiny apron she made me that matched hers. She makes the best pies…ever. I never make one without thinking about her; it’s a small tribute every time I take a pie out of the oven, hot and almost as perfect as hers. Her pumpkin pie is the best of the pies she makes. We all talk about it; in more and more detail the closer we get to this time of year, building our anticipation with every delicious memory we share. Then comes the call, or nowadays the text. Call me tonight I will be up late making pumpkin pies. Now that we are all older and wiser we don’t mess around. Those pies come out of the oven late the night before and sit to cool until we awake on Thanksgiving morning, then we pour a cup of coffee and sit down to, unhurriedly, delicious morsel by delicious morsel, devour it.

We do this unabashedly without a thought or a concern for the big meal we will eat later, this is what we have all been waiting for all year.

Now pie takes time, so I have been thinking, how could we have the joy of pie in a pinch? Ladies and Gentlemen I give you Bites as Sweet as Pumpkin Pie. Now this recipe could be made even quicker and simpler if you went the way of the store bought crust. But besides the resting time in the fridge, pie dough is so easy and you almost always have the ingredients at the ready, so my humble advice is, “do it”.  The extra time makes a big difference.

You will need:

For crust

• 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 Teaspoon salt
• 1 Stick butter
• 2-4 tablespoons ice water
• 1 Egg yolk and 1 Tablespoon cream for egg wash- optional

Pumpkin Topping

• 1 Block of cream cheese
• 1 Can of pumpkin puree
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• Nutmeg for garnish

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