Pumpkin Hand Pies are the better pop-tart but for Fall
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These pumpkin hand pies have everything going for them: the flakiest, butteriest cream cheese pastry filled with chai spiced pumpkin pie filling and a simple pumpkin glaze. And sprinkles. Never forget the sprinkles!
I’ve been busy using my pumpkin pie filling in adorable bite-sized mini pumpkin pies and extra fudgy pumpkin brownies. I had some filling left over, and my mind immediately went to a pumpkin pop-tart. The cozy chai spices in the pumpkin with the delicate flakiness of the pie crust is something you’ll absolutely love.
It’s nice to have some different versions of pumpkin pie besides the good ole reliable proper pumpkin pie. These little pumpkin hand pies are definitely up there on my list
So crack open a can of pumpkin, and let’s make some cute pumpkin hand pies!
How to make pumpkin hand pies
Why you’ll love these little pumpkin pop-tarts
- Handheld: Desserts you can carry around with you are always more fun.
- Symphony of flavor and texture: he cream cheese pastry in my mind makes the best pie crust for pumpkin pie. The tang of the cream cheese and the flakiness the butter adds is the perfect foil to the pure warm and creamy pumpkin flavor of the filling.
- So so quick: Once you have your dough made (I always keep a batch on hand in the freezer), it’s just about 10 minutes of active time and 25 minutes to bake.
- Pumpkin Glaze!!: I’m using the same pumpkin glaze here that I use for my pumpkin bread. Let me tell you, that little bit of pumpkin not only adds a gorgeous natural orange color, but it makes your pies pretty. My students are obsessed with this glaze, happily dowsing cookies and pies alike with it!
Ingredients for pumpkin pie
- Cream Cheese Pastry
- Pumpkin Pie Filling
- Milk for sealing the edges and the pumpkin glaze
- Powdered sugar
- Canned pumpkin for the glaze
- Chai spice blend
- Vanilla paste
- Sprinkles
Equipment for making pumpkin pop-tarts
- Rolling pin
- Parchment
- Pizza wheel or knife
- Small cookie cutters (I love these mini Fall cookie cutters) or the bottom side of a pastry tip
How to customize your pumpkin hand pies
Switch up your spices
I call for chai spice blend in my pumpkin pie filling because I like the contrast of star anise and cardamom with the pumpkin. Still, you may not have all the spices on hand to make chai spice blend, or you may be like some of my students who have a strong aversion to anise. Whatever your choice, substitute an equal measure of spices for what’s called for in the pumpkin filling. Here are some other choices:
- Cinnamon + ginger
- Apple pie spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla sugar)
- Cinnamon + cardamom
- Pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves).
Cut them differently
I cut my pies in rectangles, but you can use large pumpkin shaped cutters or cut them in circles like I do for my apple hand pies. Rifle through your cookie cutters and get creative!
As long as you use a cutter that isn’t too complicated and is more or less round or square, there are no bad choices. Work with your kids and let their individual pumpkin pies be, well individual! My kids and my students love to be creative with cookie cutters.
Tips for making the best pumpkin hand pies
- Do make a template: Cut a piece of parchment twice the size you want your pie to be. I’ve found that cutting around a template gives you much nicer looking pies than freehanding things and ending up with wonky edges.
- Put the pretty side up: If you have some scraggly edges when you roll your pastry, don’t feel like you need to trim them away. Simply place the scraggly edges on the bottom side of your pie. No one will know, and you’ll end up with perfectly lovely pies.
- Let the glaze set: Everybody loves the shiny glaze on a pop tart. You only get shiny glaze if you let it dry. I promise that the pies taste better too when the glaze has set!
Pumpkin Hand Pies
- Total Time: 1 hour (including time for glaze to dry)
- Yield: 10 hand pies, depending on how big you cut yours 1x
Description
Homemade pumpkin pop-tarts made from flaky buttery cream cheese pastry with chai-spiced pumpkin pie filling. These little pies are a quick and easy way to get your pumpkin pie fix with less work.
Ingredients
Pumpkin Hand Pies
- 1 batch cream cheese pastry
- 1/2 batch of pumpkin pie filling
- Milk for sealing the edges and the pumpkin glaze
- Orange sprinkles
Pumpkin glaze
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar (90 g)
- 1 Tablespoon canned pumpkin
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C).
- Line two sheet trays with parchment.
- Cut the pastry in half. Cover and set aside the other half of the pastry.
- Sprinkle your counter with a little flour, and then plop one half of the pastry in the middle. Sprinkle the top of the dough with a little more flour followed by another piece of parchment.
- Roll on top of the parchment until the dough is as close as you can get to the dimensions of the piece of parchment as you can get.
- Cut a piece of paper 6” x 5 ½”. Lay down the paper on top of the dough and cut around the paper with a pizza wheel. Use a small cookie cutter or the bottom of a pastry tip to cut a small hole in one half of each rectangle.
- Scoop out about 2 tablespoons of pumpkin filling in the uncut side of each rectangle, leaving about a ¼” border. Brush a little milk around the edges of the rectangle, and then fold the side with the hole over the filling. Press down the edges with your fingers, and then press down with a fork all along on the 3 cut edges.
- Brush the tops of the pies with milk, and then shake some sprinkles on top of each pie.
- If you have any leftover scraps of dough, roll those with the second half of the dough.
- Once you’ve made up all the pies, bake them for 22-25 minutes, until the edges are lightly brown and crisp.
- Let the pies cool on the sheet trays.
- Meanwhile, mix together the pumpkin glaze ingredients. Spoon some glaze over each of the pies. Let the glaze dry before serving.
- Store the pies at room temperature covered with a cloth or foil for up to 2 days. They will keep in the fridge for up to one week in an airtight container. If you want to freeze them, freeze them on the same sheet tray you baked on once the icing has set. Once frozen, place the hand pies in a plastic bag in one layer. Pop them in a toaster to reheat them.
Notes
Switch up your cookie cutters: Large round cutters, big pumpkin shaped cutters or square shapes work well here. You can fold the circles in half as in apple hand pies. If you use a shaped cutter, simply cut 2 for each pie. Sandwich the two cut pieces together and seal as described above, cutting a small V-shaped cut to serve as a vent in the top piece of dough.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25
- Category: Pastry
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 hand pie
- Calories: 411
- Sugar: 16 g
- Sodium: 95.8 mg
- Fat: 27.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 16.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 37.3 g
- Protein: 5.4 g
- Cholesterol: 90.7 mg
