Mini pumpkin hand pies, with homemade all butter pie dough and spiced pumpkin filling, baked until crisp and flaky, then coated in cinnamon sugar. These cute mini pumpkin shaped pies make a fun treat to serve at a Halloween party or Thanksgiving celebration.
You might also love these high altitude pumpkin recipes for pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls with maple icing, pumpkin whoopie pies, and pumpkin crumb cake muffins.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
All the Fall Flavors. Flaky, buttery pie crust, creamy spiced pumpkin filling and cinnamon sugar – what could be better for a fall day?
Perfect for the Holidays. A little hand held pie makes a delicious addition to a dessert table at Halloween and Thanksgiving. You can even make your pumpkin hand pies look like jack-o-lanterns with a few simple cutouts. I’m a big Harry Potter fan, and I imagine that the pumpkin pasties they ate might have looked something like these!
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude. Today’s recipe should work at any altitude without adjustments, though.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
Filling
- Pumpkin. Use plain canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.
- Sugar. Light or dark brown sugar adds sweetness to the pumpkin.
- Egg Yolk. If making a larger batch of pumpkin hand pies, you can use the whole egg, but for a smaller amount of filling, just use the yolk. The egg helps to thicken and set the pumpkin filling as it bakes.
- Spices. Vanilla extract, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, allspice and nutmeg add coziness, warmth and flavor.
Crust
- Pie Dough. You’ll need one recipe All Butter Perfect Pie Dough (enough for a double pie crust), or your favorite store bought pie dough. It’s important to roll out the dough thinly, to about 1/8 of an inch. The flaky layers of my homemade pie dough puff up beautifully when baking these mini pumpkin pies.
- Egg White. Helps to seal the top and bottom crust together.
Cinnamon Sugar
- Butter. A little melted butter brushed over the pies after baking helps the cinnamon sugar coating to stick.
- Cinnamon Sugar. Just a simple combination of granulated sugar and ground cinnamon is the perfect sweet and crunchy finish.
Instructions
Filling
- In a bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, brown sugar, egg yolk, vanilla and spices, until smooth.
- Refrigerate the filling until needed.
Dough
- Make 1 Recipe Pie Dough (double crust).
- On a lightly floured surface, work with half the dough at a time, and roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thick. Cut as many pumpkins as you can with your pumpkin shaped cookie cutter.
- Gather up the scraps, roll them out again, and continue cutting pumpkins until you’ve used up all the dough. Using a 3-inch cutter, you should be able to cut around 4 dozen pumpkins (for 2 dozen mini pies). Using a larger cutter, you’ll have fewer pies, but they can hold more filling.
- Using a knife, the rounded edge of your pumpkin cookie cutter, or the edge of a round biscuit cutter, cut four curved lines in half the pumpkins to look like the ridges on real pumpkins. These will be the tops of the pies. Another idea is to use a knife to cut jack-o-lantern faces in the top pie crusts.
Assembly
- Set half of the pumpkins (the ones without the curved cuts) on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Spoon the filling onto the center of the dough, using about 1 1/2 – 2 tsp per pie. 3-inch pies are pretty small, and will not hold a lot of filling, but if you use a 4 or 5 inch cutter for larger pies, you can use a tablespoon or more of filling per pie.
- Brush the edges of the dough lightly with the egg white. Place the rest of the pumpkins (the ones with the curved cuts) on top, and lightly press down on the edges to seal them together. Brush the top of the dough lightly with egg white.
- Set the pan in the refrigerator to chill while you preheat the oven.
Bake
- Preheat the oven to 375 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Bake the pies for about 30 minutes, until the pastry is crisp, flaky and pale golden brown.
- Set the baking sheet on a cooling rack, and let the pies cool for about 10 minutes, until cool enough to handle.
Cinnamon Sugar
- Use a pastry brush to lightly brush the top and bottom of the pies with the melted butter.
- Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl, and coat the pies in the cinnamon sugar.
- Serve the pies warm, or at room temperature.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I freeze the unbaked pies and bake them later?
Yes, you can. Freeze the fully assembled pumpkin hand pies in an airtight container, then bake as instructed, adding a few extra minutes of bake time if needed.
How long do these pies stay fresh?
These are best eaten within 1 day, while the pastry is still really crisp, but they’re still great for several days after baking. Leftover pies should be cooled completely, loosely covered, and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Will this recipe work with store bought pie dough?
Yes, it will.
What size is your pumpkin cookie cutter?
My pumpkin cookie cutter is 3 inches, which is pretty small, so my pies could not hold a lot of filling, only about 1 1/2 – 2 teaspoons. If you like a higher filling to crust ratio, use a 4 or 5 inch pumpkin cutter so you can get more filling into your pies.
You Might Also Like
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Mini Pumpkin Hand Pies with Cinnamon Sugar
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Rolling Pin
- 3 or 4-inch Pumpkin Shaped Cookie Cutter
- Baking Sheets + Parchment Paper
Ingredients
Filling
- â…” cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- ¼ cup light or dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- â…› tsp ground cloves
- â…› tsp ground ginger
- â…› tsp ground allspice
- pinch ground nutmeg
Crust
- 1 recipe All Butter Perfect Pie Dough (enough for a double pie crust)
- 1 large egg white
Cinnamon Sugar
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
Filling
- In a bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, brown sugar, egg yolk, vanilla and spices, until smooth.
- Refrigerate the filling until needed.
Dough
- Make 1 Recipe Pie Dough (double crust).
- On a lightly floured surface, work with half the dough at a time, and roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thick. Cut as many pumpkins as you can with your pumpkin shaped cookie cutter.Gather up the scraps, roll them out again, and continue cutting pumpkins until you've used up all the dough. Using a 3-inch cutter, you should be able to cut around 4 dozen pumpkins (for 2 dozen mini pies). Using a larger cutter, you'll have fewer pies, but they can hold more filling.
- Using a knife, the rounded edge of your pumpkin cookie cutter, or the edge of a round biscuit cutter, cut four curved lines in half the pumpkins to look like the ridges on real pumpkins. These will be the tops of the pies.Another idea is to use a knife to cut jack-o-lantern faces in the top pie crusts.
Assembly
- Set half of the pumpkins (the ones without the curved cuts) on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Spoon the filling onto the center of the dough, using about 1 1/2 – 2 tsp per pie. 3-inch pies are pretty small, and will not hold a lot of filling, but if you use a 4 or 5 inch cutter for larger pies, you can use a tablespoon or more of filling per pie.
- Brush the edges of the dough lightly with the egg white. Place the rest of the pumpkins (the ones with the curved cuts) on top, and lightly press down on the edges to seal them together. Brush the top of the dough lightly with egg white.
- Set the pan in the refrigerator to chill while you preheat the oven.
Bake
- Preheat the oven to 375 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Bake the pies for about 30 minutes, until the pastry is crisp, flaky and pale golden brown.
- Set the baking sheet on a cooling rack, and let the pies cool for about 10 minutes, until cool enough to handle.
Cinnamon Sugar
- Use a pastry brush to lightly brush the top and bottom of the pies with the melted butter.
- Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl, and coat the pies in the cinnamon sugar.
- Serve the pies warm, or at room temperature.
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