Easier Than Pi (and Fewer Calories Too!)

Imagine having 24 pieces of pie for about 300 calories....whaaaat?!?!?!?!? 

That's right, this Instructable shows how to make mini appetizers that resemble small slices of pumpkin pie.  They are ideal to take as an appetizer to a book (wine/whine) club meeting, to cleanse the palate between a self imposed pie-tasting event, or as an extra Thanksgiving nibble.

Let's get going...

Cheddar flavored Chex Mix
2 oz of block cheese
A wee bit of soft cheese, such as Neufchatel or Cream Cheese

To  resemble a slice of pie, you'll want to use crackers that have a trangular shape for the base of the crust, along with some that have a ruffled edge for the upper portion of the crust.

Rather than buying a couple of boxes of crackers, I found both of these shapes in the Cheddar Flavored Chex Mix, and after sorting through a new package of the mix I ended up with about 1/2 cup of combined triangles and ruffled shaped crackers.  This resulted in about 30 triangles and 27 ruffled crackers that were not broken. 

The packaging of my low fat cheese identied that an inch was about an ounce, and from 2 oz of cheese I was able to cut about 8-9 thin slices.  These slices were then cut into 4 triangles that were slightly smaller than the trianglar cracker, with (snacking) scraps on each side

Using my mixer, I whipped up the soft cheese so it would be easier to spread and placed it in a ziplock fitted with a star tip.

Now the fun begins!  Because these crackers are salty, your work area will get messy.

I found it easiest to work in the following assembly-line fashion, keeping a clean damp towel nearby to remove cracker salt from my fingers:

1. Lay out trianglar crackers
2. Place a dot of Neufchatel/Cream Cheese on the crackers
3. Layer the triangle slice of cheese on top of each cracker
4. Place some Neufchatel/Cream Cheese on the side of the crackers
5. Press a ruffled cracker on the side of each cracker
6. Dab/Pipe a bit of softened cheese to resemble whipped created (optional)
7. Once all slices have been prepared, place in random directions on a serving dish
    

In hindsight, I realize purchasing boxes of the specific cracker shapes, along with pre-sliced cheese and a container of whipped cream cheese would've been more convenient, but even without doing so these goodies are still easier than making/memorizing pie/pi.  Enjoy!