Chai-Spiced Pumpkin Hand Pies
These delicious pockets of flaky, homemade pie crust are filled with a delicious and creamy pumpkin pie filling. Then, they're sprinkled with fragrant and sweet chai-spiced sugar. Baked to golden perfection, these hand pies are sure to be your favorite fall treat.
Servings 12 pies
Ingredients
Pumpkin Hand Pies
- 2 pie crusts (one batch homemade makes two crusts) — see note 1 below
- ¾ cup pure, canned pumpkin
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ⅛ cup sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1 tsp allspice
- ¼ tsp cloves
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 1 egg white
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
- 2 tbsp chai-spiced sugar, to taste (for topping/garnish later on; recipe below)
Chai-Spiced Sugar (For Topping/Garnish)
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 2½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ginger
- ½ tsp allspice
- ¼ tsp cardamom
- ¼ tsp cloves
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
Instructions
Pumpkin Hand Pies
- In a mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, brown sugar, condensed milk, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg. Make sure to use the measurements under the "pumpkin hand pies" ingredients section, NOT the "chai-spiced sugar" section (you'll use the chai-spiced sugar later for topping.) Mash and mix thoroughly with a fork or spoon, until it comes together smoothly. Set aside.
- On parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, roll out your pie crusts one at a time until they are less than ¼" thick. Use your pumpkin cookie cutter or paring knife to stamp or hand-cut pumpkin shapes. Each crust should provide around twelve pumpkin shapes, so you should end up with twenty-four cut-outs. However, it may vary depending on exactly how thinly you rolled the pie crust, and how large you cut the shapes. Combine the excess pie crust gently together, and roll it out again to stamp more shapes. Don't re-roll scraps more than once, though. Instead, cut out some smaller designs to bake later as decor (leaves, spiral vines, hearts, etc.) These pie-crust scrap "chips" are delicious all on their own, and make a great decor on the serving platter!
- Using a large spoon, add pumpkin filling to twelve of your pie crust cut-outs.
- Use a paring knife to cut vents in the remaining twelve pie crust cut-outs. You can curve the vents a little to create the "ridges" classic to the pumpkin shape.
- In a small bowl or cup, whisk together the egg white and heavy cream. Dip a pastry brush into this wash, and brush it on the edge of a pumpkin-filled pie crust. Then, place a vented pie crust on top, pressing the edges together. Use a fork to really seal the edges, then reshape with your fingers, if necessary. Repeat with the remaining pie crusts.
- Place the hand pies on a baking sheet, if they aren't already, and pop them in the freezer for at least 15 minutes. If you seal the hand pies in plastic, you can freeze them as-is for up to three months. At this time, also freeze any excess pie crust decor you cut out if it isn't chilling already.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Remove the pies from the freezer and brush them with egg wash. Then, sprinkle on a bit of the chai-spiced sugar to taste — you won't need to use it all, just give each pie a little dusting.
- Bake the frozen or chilled hand pies for 23-27 minutes, or until they look very golden brown and the edges are starting to darken past gold just slightly.
- Optionally, remove the pie crust scrap decor pieces from the freezer, and repeat the process of adding egg wash and chai sugar. Bake for 5-10 minutes in the preheated oven. Time will vary based on the size of the cut-outs.
- Let cool fully, then enjoy. Hand pies and pie crust decor can keep at room temperature in an air-tight container for 2-3 days.
Chai-Spiced Sugar (Topping/Garnish)
- Mix all of the spices and sugar in a small bowl.
- Store in an air-tight container up to the earliest expiration date of your sugar or spices. Use on: pie crust, beignets, doughnuts, pastry, coffee, whipped cream, bananas foster, cakes, muffins, strudel, candied nuts, and more.
Notes
Note 1: For this recipe, you can either use store-bought or homemade pie crust (use my recipe here). However, keep in mind that homemade pie crust needs to rest in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours after it is made (or up to three days.) This time is not included in the recipe time total above.