Makes ~1 dozen
Ingredients:
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup sugar + 1 tbs
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 refrigerated pie crusts
1 egg
1 tbs water
Flour for rolling
Special Tools:
Pumpkin cookie cutter*
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine pumpkin puree, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice in a small bowl.
2. Roll out pie crust on a lightly floured surface. Cut pumpkin shapes using cookie cutter.** Roll out dough as necessary until 24-26 pumpkins are cut. Place half of the pumpkins on parchment-lined cookie sheets. Cut jack-o-lantern shapes or slits in the other half and set aside.
3. Scoop pumpkin mix onto the pumpkins placed on the cookie sheet--placing in the middle and keeping the mix from touching the edges of the pumpkin. Cover with cut pumpkins.
4. Seal each pumpkin by using a fork to mash the edges together.*** Whisk egg and water together. Brush each pie lightly with mixture. Sprinkle with sugar.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 12-14 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Move to wire rack to finish cooling.
Notes:
*My pumpkin cookie cutter is about 3.5 inches wide.
**I was able to get 6 cuts on one pie crust.
***I used a child's utensil to make it easier to handle.
These are a fun and festive little treat--especially for people whose favorite part of pie is the crust! They are easy to make, but they are a bit time consuming. The issues that I ran into were with the dough. I used store brand dough, and some of my crusts were a little thin--especially after re-rolling the dough a few times. I had a few that cracked since the dough was thin. I may try a different brand or make my own next time. It's also easy to overfill these, so you have to be careful when filling them. They taste amazing and my kids love them! My 3-year-old helped me, so he got to have the first taste. I dusted his with powdered sugar for some extra flair, but it tasted great without it.
