I love mini quiche, but I do not love paying out the rear end for them when they are so quick and easy to make with pre-made refrigerated pie crust.  Yep, I came up with this Mini Quiche recipe simply because I am a cheapskate.  We almost always make these as appetizers for Thanksgiving and Christmas family get togethers.  They are a family fav!

You can put any fillings you want in these little quiches.  Be creative!  This recipe just has shredded sharp cheddar cheese, but you can try any combination of ingredients: bacon pieces, ham, cooked sausage, caramelized onions, chopped spinach, goat cheese, Swiss cheese, mozzarella cheese, red pepper flakes, mushrooms… seriously, whatever you fancy!  The egg mixture (eggs, milk, mustard, onion powder, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper) can be poured over any combination of fillings.  (You can even sub out the Italian seasoning for different seasoning depending on what your fillings are!)

Quiche is a great thing to experiment with to get you more confident in switching out flavors.  Some of my favorite combinations are bacon with onion and gruyere cheese, sharp cheese with caramelized onion and tomato, or cooked ground sausage with chopped spinach and goat cheese!  The possibilities are quite endless!  You can get a minimum of 48 mini quiches out of this recipe – that is with no rerolling of your spare dough and cutting  your circles as close together as possible.  If you take the time re-roll out all the scraps you can get even more!

Ingredients:

• 4 pre-made refrigerated pie crusts (1 box has two crusts so you will need 2 boxes)
• 2-1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (or add other fillings as desired)
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/8 tsp each of Salt & Pepper
  

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375.  Lightly grease two mini brownie/muffin bite pans (24 count each) with non-stick spray.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, mustard, onion powder, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.  Set aside.
3. Unroll the pie crust and use a glass or a round cookie or biscuit cutter (I use 2-1/2 inch) to cut the crust into medium circles.  
4. Gently push the pastry rounds in to greased mini brownie/muffin pan holes.  
5. Add shredded cheese and other fillings as desired to the cups.   
6. Drop about 1-1/2 to 2 teaspoons of the egg mixture over the filling in each cup so it’s just covered.  (I do one spoonful in each, let it settle then go back and add more as needed.  Do not overfill.  You don’t want the egg mixture to overflow when filling or they will stick to the pan.)
7. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.  They will look SUPER puffy when they come out.  Don’t worry – they are going to deflate and be perfect.
8. Let cool in muffin pans for 5-10 minutes, then gently remove with a spoon.
9. Cool on racks then serve.  (Quiche should be stored in the refrigerator!)