How To Turn Your Cheese And Crackers Into Adorable Mini 'Pie' Slices

When fall arrives, so do our favorite holiday feasts. Halloween and Thanksgiving parties abound with classic recipes, from pumpkin pie to honey baked hams. However, the holiday season also offers the opportunity for culinary creativity, And, one of the best places to showcase novel recipes is the appetizer spread. Cheese and crackers are classic hors d'oeuvres that you can imbue with a fun fall spirit by transforming them into mini 'pie' slices.

Cheese and cracker pumpkin pie slices became a viral hit on social media in 2023, with videos on TikTok and Instagram showing the assembly of differently shaped crackers into a pie crust formation to top with a pumpkin pie-hued triangle of cheddar cheese. Making these yourself is easy. You'll need a triangular cracker for the pie slice base, a rectangular cracker for the vertical back crust, a block of cheddar cheese, and whipped cream cheese.

To assemble these mini pumpkin-pie-lookalike slices, cut the block of cheese into eighth-inch thick blocks, using a triangle cookie cutter (or knife) to form triangular pieces for the 'pie filling'. The whipped cream cheese isn't just the faux whipped cream garnish, but also the glue that holds the different ingredients together. Pipe a small dollop of whipped cream cheese onto a triangular cracker to anchor the cheese triangle. Then pipe another dollop of cream cheese onto the back of the slice of cheese to adhere the rectangular piece of cracker 'pie crust.' As a finishing touch, you'll top each mini pie slice with a final dollop of whipped cream cheese.

While the viral recipes for these cheese and cracker mini pie slices use cheddar cheese for its orange, pumpkin pie-like coloring, you can use any type of cheese you like. After all, pie slices come in a wide range of different colors. You can make a veritable cheese sampler platter with different types of 'pie slices.' A golden smoked gouda mini slice might resemble a slice of buttermilk pie.

Furthermore, you can take a cookie cutter to fruit and cheese slices for a well-balanced slice of sweet and savory. Supplement the triangular cheddar slice with a triangle of green apple. If you're using gruyere or brie, you can slather fig spread instead of cream cheese to the cracker for a sweet, fruity adhesive.

Triscuit crackers are commonly sold in triangles which makes them a handy choice for this mini pie trick. But there are other triangular-shaped crackers on the market, many of which come in different flavors. You could also swap crackers for triangular pita chips, or even bake your own using our recipe for pita chips. You could then top pita chips with triangles of marinated feta or squeeky, mild halloumi and make them look like a cheesecake slice. Infuse plain cream cheese with herbs and spices or use one of our 21 sweet and savory cream cheese recipes to complement the type of cheese you choose for the pie filling. You can pair cheddar cheese with a jalapeno-flavored cream cheese, for example.