Pumpkin Hand Pies are an air fryer recipe made with a simple homemade pie dough and the filling is made with just four ingredients. These fun tart-like pumpkin pies are perfect to serve at fall get-togethers, as part of a fun party dessert bar, or for on-the-go snacking.
Scoops of sweet, delightfully earthy pumpkin pie filling is enclosed in a rich, buttery, and flaky pie crust and air fried to golden perfection to create these adorable pumpkin hand pies. These individual-sized pies make the perfect no-mess, on-the-go fall treat.
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❤️ Why you'll love it
Made in the air fryer: These delicious pies are fried in the air fryer, giving them that crispy fried effect.
Great for snacks: these pumpkin hand pies can be made in advance and frozen, then make them as desired for snacking!
🥘 Ingredients
For the crust:
- Flour—All-purpose flour acts as the base for your hand pie crust.
- Unsalted Butter—Ice-cold unsalted butter is crumbled into your flower to ensure that your finished crust is nice and flaky.
- Sour Cream—This unconventional crust ingredient helps to keep your crust flaky and avoid tough, chewy hand pies.
- Baking Powder—A dash of baking powder is the leavening agent of choice for this pie dough.
- Salt—Adding a pinch of salt to your hand pie crust helps to balance out the other sweet flavors in your pie.
- Ice Water
For the filling:
- Pumpkin purée—To make things a little simpler, this recipe uses canned pumpkin purée.
- Evaporated Milk—A can of evaporated milk adds creaminess and richness to your hand pie filling.
- Sugar—White granulated sugar is the sweetener of choice for this decadent pie filling.
- Eggs—beaten eggs act as a binding agent for your pumpkin pie filling.
- Pumpkin Pie Spices—Cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and a pinch of salt are combined to create the perfect pumpkin pie spice mix.
🍽 Equipment
Air Fryer, I love the air fryers with racks in them. This is one of my favorites!
Pastry blender, to blend the butter into the dough.
Rolling pin
🔪 Instructions
Make the pie crust
- You’ll begin making these scrumptious pumpkin hand pies by forming the pie dough. To do this, use your hands to combine your flour, baking powder, salt, and ice-cold butter. The mixture should be slightly crumbly and doesn’t need to be completely uniform.
- Add the sour cream and continue mixing. Add the ice water as needed until the mixture holds itself together.
- Form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic, and let rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
For the pie filling
- While the dough is chilling, make the pumpkin pie filling. Combine the beaten eggs, pumpkin purée, sugar, and spices. Slowly stream in the evaporated milk, all the while constantly stirring the pie filling.
- Transfer the filling to a loaf pan and cook in a 400°F air fryer for 8 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to 350°F and cook your filling for an additional 10 minutes.
Assemble and air fry
- Allow the pumpkin pie filling to cool while rolling out the chilled pie dough. Use a large circle cutter or a bowl to cut five-inch circles from your dough.
- Use an ice cream scoop to dollop a couple of tablespoons of pie filling into the center of each of the dough circles.
- Fold each of the circles in half and use a fork to seal the edges.
- Finally, cook the hand pies in a 400°F air fryer for 8 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350°F and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
- Allow the pies to slightly cool before topping with whipped cream and enjoying!
Variations
- Although it hasn’t been tested, you should be able to use gluten-free flour instead of all-purpose to create a delicious gluten-free version of this dessert.
- You can use salted butter in your crust—just be sure to omit the additional salt!
- Substitute homemade pumpkin puree for the canned pumpkin.
- For caramel notes in your pumpkin pie, substitute half of the white sugar for light brown sugar.
- A pre-made pumpkin pie spice blend can be used in place of the spices.
Top Tips
- Be sure the butter stays as cold as possible and keep it in the refrigerator until adding to the flour mixture.
- If the dough is on the dry and crumbly side, use a small amount of ice water to help everything come together.
- I recommend using a pastry blender to mix the dough. I use one like this one.
- The best way to know if the pie filling is done cooking is to look for dark edges around the loaf pan. Once the edges become dark the pie filling will be cooked enough to work with once cool.
Storage Recommendations
- Hand pies will last on the counter for 3-5 days. However, you can also store these hand pies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week.
- Store these pies in the freezer for up to two months and place one in the air fryer for 10 minutes to reheat when ready to enjoy.
What toppings pair well with these hand pies?
Fresh whipped cream goes amazing with this hand pie. You can also make a chocolate whipped cream by adding a few spoonfuls of cocoa powder to the heavy whipping cream before you beat it.
Related Recipes
*If you made these Pumpkin Hand Pies, please give them a star rating*
📖 Recipe
Pumpkin Hand Pies
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Ingredients
FOR THE CRUST
- 1½ cups flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter , cubed and cold
- ¼ cup sour cream
- Ice water as needed
Instructions
FOR THE DOUGH
- In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the cold cubed butter to the dry ingredients and use a pastry blender or your hands to combine the ingredients until crumbly.
- Add the sour cream and mix with a fork until combined. Use your hands to form dough balls, adding ice water as needed.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
FOR THE FILLING
- Add the eggs to a small mixing bowl and beat with a hand mixer until combined.
- Add the pumpkin puree, sugar, spices and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Gradually add the evaporated milk to the eggs, mixing constantly.
- Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray. Transfer the pie filling to the loaf pan and cook for 8 minutes.
Assemble and Cook
- Allow the pumpkin pie filling to cool while rolling out the chilled pie dough. Use a large circle cutter or a bowl to cut five-inch circles from your dough.
- Use an ice cream scoop to dollop a couple of tablespoons of pie filling into the center of each of the dough circles. Fold each of the circles in half and use a fork to seal the edges.
- Finally, cook the hand pies in a 400°F air fryer for 8 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350°F and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Allow the pies to slightly cool before topping with whipped cream and enjoying!
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