Halloween Hand Pies with a Pumpkin Cream Cheese Filling/Spread

These hand pies are so fun and festive for Halloween. They also contain a tasty pumpkin cream cheese filling that acts as a spread/dip. By the way, I love the flavor of this filling-it’s so good!

Furthermore, you may use any cookie cutter you’d like to create these hand pies.

Hand Pie Ingredients:

🎃 1 pie crust, homemade or store-bought

🎃 1 ounce of softened room temperature cream cheese

🎃 1/4 cup pumpkin purée

🎃 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

🎃 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; I used alcohol-free vanilla extract

🎃 1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

🎃 semi-sweet mini chocolate chips to add to the filling

Method:

dipping hand pie in pumpkin cream cheese spread

To prepare the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Filling:

Add the softened cream cheese to a bowl or a stand mixer and blend for about 1-2 minutes or until it’s light and softened.
Add the pumpkin purée and continue blending until the mixture is light and fluffy, for about 1-2 minutes. Add the pumpkin pie spice and vanilla extract.
Mix to combine. Add the sifted powdered sugar. Mix until combined.
Use immediately or keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.

To prepare the hand pies:

Preheat the oven to 425F
Roll the pie crust to about 12 inches.
Use cookie cutters to cut out fun shapes, making sure to have 2 of each shape to help form a sandwich.
Add a small amount of filling in the center of the pie crust

Note: Don’t add too much filling to the pie crust, as the filling will ooze out when the top layer is applied. Instead, I like to serve the spread as a side to dip the hand pies in. This way, you can still enjoy the great flavor of the filling without ruining the look of the hand pies.

Add a couple of pieces of mini chocolate chips on top of the filling.
Add egg wash (1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water) to the edges.
Top with another cutout pie dough.
Gently push edges with your fingers to help seal the doughs together.
Transfer the hand pies to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (mainly for easy cleanup)
Place the hand pies in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Note: when working with pie dough, you want to make sure the dough is always kept cold. Placing it in the freezer for a short period of time will ensure the pie crust will be cold when placed in the oven. Which in turn will result in a flakier pie when baked.