You know how that Thanksgiving dessert table looks so overwhelmingly tempting and you want some of everything? Me too, but I’m usually too full to eat dessert and save it for later.
These adorable pumpkin hand pies are just thing to eat later or the next day for breakfast. They are more pastry than pie, and they are gluten free.
Which Gluten Free Flours I Recommend
Baking gluten free pastry dough (or pie crust) is pretty easy, but has to be approached differently. The gluten in regular pie dough gives the dough its stretch. There is no stretch in the gluten free, but that’s okay. As long as you handle it like a shortbread crust, knowing you may need to piece it together if it falls apart. Truly, I served these along with regular pie crust hand pies and no one knew the difference.
Bob Mills makes two kinds of gluten free baking flours. I prefer the one that has blend of sweet white rice flour, whole grain brown rice flour, potato starch, whole grain sweet white sorghum flour, tapioca flour and xanthan gum. They also have one that has garbanzo and fava beans in it, but that’s not my preference. I use the blue package. I also highly recommend Bella All Purpose Gluten Free, which can be ordered on line. If you have a brand you stand by, please let me know in the comments.
The Pumpkin Filling for Pumpkin Pie Hand Pies
The pumpkin cream filling is the same filling I used in the pumpkin pop tarts, and can be adjusted for sweetness or even made with stevia if you want to go that route.
I’ve been making hand pies for years, and I have a few tips to make hand pies more consistent and easier.
These tips apply to any sweet hand pies.
Seven Tips for Making Hand Pies
- Cut out rounds with a scalloped cutter. I don’t know why this works better, it just does.
- Refrigerate the rounds (or freeze) for about ten minutes, especially when using gluten free pie dough.
- Use milk to bind them together. Before you put the filling in the middle, brush the milk onto the round.
- Cut out either a small circle or use a cutter as shown in picture which allows for steam to escape.
- Brush with milk and top with raw sugar.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Cool completely before eating. Hand pies tend to be very hot inside, and don’t cool as quickly as cookies.
More Gluten Free Recipes from Spinach Tiger
More Hand Pies from Spinach Tiger
- 2 cups gluten free flour (see notes for brand)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 12 tablespoons butter
- 2 eggs
- 4-6 tablespoons iced cold water
- Place flour, salt, sugar in food processor.
- Mix well.
- Add in butter. Mix just until the butter is in pea sized pieces.
- Add eggs. Mix for about 5 seconds until eggs are incorporated.
- Add just enough water to bring together.
- Dough will be like a short bread dough, because there is no elastic.
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes. It's easier to work with cold.
- Flour surface and roll out. Sometimes the gluten free dough will split or break apart a little. Just put it back together. It will stick back together much easier than gluten dough.
- Cut 4 inch circles with a biscuit cutter.
- Imprint with a decorative stamp if you have one.If not make sure to put a slit into the top to let the steam escape.
- Brush milk over the first round.
- Put about 2 teaspoons of pumpkin filling onto one round.
- Top and gently press the edges together.
- Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes on baking dish. I have used both parchment paper and just a baking stone. Both worked fine.
- Cool Completely.
- These freeze well in plastic freezer bags.
Those are simply adorable!! My grandsons would love to to chow down on them. Great recipe — thank you for sharing. The added touch of the face really makes it.
I agree about the scallop cutter. It seems to me that they scallop shape doesn’t get stretched and mis-shapened as easily if you have to move it around. GREG