Halloween Pumpkin Hand Pies | Handle the Heat
Filed Under: Dessert | Fall | Halloween | Pie

Pumpkin Hand Pies

By Tessa Arias
  |  
September 29th, 2017
4.25 from 4 votes
4.25 from 4 votes

Adorable Pumpkin Hand Pies are the perfect treat to celebrate the fall season and Halloween. Made with the easiest homemade pastry crust ever (seriously!).

Yield: 20 pies

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook: 25 minutes

Tessa's Recipe Rundown...

Taste: Mild pumpkin spice flavor that makes you wish fall lasted all year long.
Texture: The pastry is flaky and tender, while the filling is rich and smooth.
Ease: This pastry is ridiculously easy, even kids could get involved making these!
Pros: Simple and festive homemade treat!
Cons: None.
Would I make this again? Definitely this time next year!

Pumpkin season is officially upon us and I could not be more excited. No matter how basic that makes me.

I’ve got my favorite Pumpkin Soufflé candle from Anthropologie burning right now and at least three pumpkin recipes in the pipeline that I’ll be sharing this season.

To me, there’s nothing more comforting than both the aroma and flavor of pumpkin and warm spices. I almost feel bad for those people who don’t like pumpkin. They really are missing out.

It would only be appropriate that the first pumpkin recipe I share this fall is for these adorable pumpkin hand pies. Especially as we head into October and Halloween!

Adorable jack-o-lantern shaped Pumpkin Hand Pies are the perfect treat to celebrate the season. Made with the easiest pastry crust ever!

I used a larger and a smaller pumpkin shaped cookie cutter set to cut out pumpkin shapes from the pastry dough. Then I placed a small dollop of filling on each of the bottom pieces of dough. Be careful not to overfill these! I used my paring knife to slice cute jack-o-lantern designs or lines to accentuate the gourd shape on that top piece of dough.

Feel free to get creative here with your shapes and decorations! The dough is pretty much a dream to work with so it makes the process actually enjoyable. It’s the perfect Halloween baking project!

If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a picture and tag me and #handletheheat on Instagram.

More Halloween Recipes:

Check out ALL my Halloween treats here!

 

4.25 from 4 votes

How to make
Pumpkin Hand Pies

Yield: 20 pies
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Inactive Time 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 55 minutes
Adorable Pumpkin Hand Pies are the perfect treat to celebrate the fall season and Halloween. Made with the easiest homemade pastry crust ever (seriously!).

Ingredients

For the dough:

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 1/2 sticks (170 grams) unsalted butter
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 3/4 cups (350 grams) flour

For the filling:

  • 1/2 cup (122 grams) pumpkin puree
  • 1/4 cup (57 grams) sour cream
  • 1 large egg beaten
  • 1/4 cup (50 grams) light brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon cloves

For the egg wash:

  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon water

Directions

Make the dough:

  1. Heat the water and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until butter has melted. Add in the sugar, salt, and flour. Remove from heat and stir with a wooden spoon until a wet and oily dough comes together. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Make the filling:

  1. In a large bowl beat all of the filling ingredients together until smooth.

Assemble and bake:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a small bowl combine the egg and water to make an egg wash.
  3. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about 1/8-inch thickness. Using a pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter, cut out shapes.
  4. In half of the pumpkin shapes, cut 3 vertical slits or triangle “eyes” for decorative effect. These will become the tops of the pies.
  5. Place 2 tablespoons filling onto each bottom pumpkin shape, leaving a border around the edge. Use more or less filling depending on the size of your pumpkin shapes, being careful not to overfill. Lightly brush the border with the egg wash. Place the top over each bottom, pressing the edges to seal the filling inside.
  6. Make ahead: At this point the unbaked pies can be covered and refrigerated for 1 day. They can also be frozen and baked straight from the freezer, just add about 3 minutes to the baking time.
  7. Brush the tops of the pies with the remaining egg wash. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let cool before serving.
Course : Dessert
Cuisine : American

Photos by Constance Higley.

If you feel up to tackling traditional homemade pie dough, check out my free troubleshooting guide:

Tessa Arias
Author: Tessa Arias

I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)

Tessa Arias

About Tessa...

I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)

Find Tessa on  

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Recipe Rating




  1. #
    Lily W — October 30, 2020 at 1:41 pm

    The pastry was interesting, as I’ve never made pastry using melted butter. The dough was a little tricky to handle cuz it got soft very fast, but it was a bit easier to roll out than a normal short crust, and cooked surprisingly well. I wouldn’t use this for a pie per se, but it was fine for hand pies. The filling was a bit too liquidy and tricky to manage with cut out pumpkin faces so we opted to just do enclosed pumpkin shapes instead. Overall pretty good.

  2. #
    Beth — November 26, 2019 at 8:00 am

    These came out pretty well. But, I am making them to bring to Thanksgiving in two days. What’s the best way to store them? Or, should I have made them only the day of?

  3. #
    JenP — September 16, 2018 at 5:52 am

    Great filling recipe, just what I was looking for, thank you!
    I’ve been on a hand pie “kick” lately and wanted to make pumpkin, but wasn’t sure how to approach it, because when I make a regular pumpkin pie, the custard filling is completely liquid when I put it in the shell and sets up over an hour of baking, which obviously wouldn’t work for a hand pie. I was thinking of cooking the custard on the stovetop before filling the handpies, but your recipe is quick, easy, and delicious, so I don’t need to bother with the extra step. I will definitely be trying some more of your recipes!

  4. #
    Test — April 18, 2018 at 7:11 am

    Testing star rating transfer

  5. #
    Donna|greenykitchen.com — January 26, 2018 at 10:29 pm

    Hi,Tessa
    This hand pies is really looking so good. Just saved it for trying it soon. Thanks for putting it together 🙂

  6. #
    Anna Powell — October 9, 2017 at 12:51 pm

    Great idea Tessa. I was looking for new ideas for Halloween baking.

  7. #
    Erica Lea | Buttered Side Up — October 4, 2017 at 1:22 pm

    These are so stinkin’ cute!

    • #
      Tessa — October 5, 2017 at 7:57 am

      Thank you, Erica!

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