These easy air fryer pumpkin hand pies are made with just five ingredients. Using store-bought pastry and pumpkin pie filling, they are dusted with sugar and air-fried for a perfectly crispy crust. These little pies are perfect for an afternoon snack or lunch box treat. A great way to use up some leftover pastry and pumpkin pie filling.
Hand-held mini pumpkin pies make a delicious afternoon snack with a cup of coffee or tea. They are also ideal for a holiday dessert platter.
Serve them with other seasonal pastries such as cranberry hand pies or air fryer butter tarts.
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These little pumpkin pies are the perfect fall treat. They are made with a flaky pastry crust, filled with pumpkin pie filling, and coated in sweet sugar.
Made in the air fryer, these pumpkin hand pies take only 8 minutes to bake, making them the ideal treat when you need something quick.
You can use a store-bought pumpkin pie filling, or if you have a favorite homemade version you can use that too.
The recipe uses about one cup of filling, so it is a great way to use leftovers. Or you can make these and use the leftover pumpkin to make pumpkin cinnamon rolls or pumpkin chocolate chip scones.
These mini pies are the perfect size for a lunch box treat or simply enjoy them with a cup of afternoon tea.
Ingredients & Substitutions
For a full list of ingredients and measurements, see the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Pastry – To make things easy, I used refrigerated pastry. It is sold in a package of 2 deep dish pie shells, perfect for making 8 – 16 hand pies, depending on how big you make them. Of course, if you are ambitious, you can make your pie pastry instead. I use unsweetened pie crust, but sweetened works well too.
Pumpkin pie filling – Store-bought canned pumpkin pie filling is inexpensive and easy. You should be able to find it in the baking aisle of almost any grocery store. If you have a favorite homemade pumpkin pie filling, you can also use that.
Egg – Gives the hand pies a nice golden crust. You can leave the egg out without issues if you have an allergy.
Heavy cream – Heavy cream helps thin the egg, making it easier to brush over the pastry, and giving it a beautifully golden and crisp crust. You can use milk or half and half if you don’t have a carton of heavy cream open.
Sugar – A sprinkle of sugar on top of the pie adds a bit of sweetness and a nice, crunch. Granulated sugar works fine, but coarse sugar is even better if you have it. You can mix a bit of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon in with the sugar if you want a bit more spice.
Assembling the Mini Pumpkin Pies
Unroll the pastry and cut each sheet into rounds.
You will need either one large pastry round or two small rounds per pie. Using a 4.5-inch cutter and one round per pie, you will get about 7 pies out of each pie shell.
You can bring the scraps together, roll them, and cut them into additional rounds, or save the scraps for something else, such as pastry scrap cinnamon sugar snacks.
Spoon approximately 1 tablespoon of pie filling onto half of each round, then fold the pastry over the filling and crimp the edges with a fork.
Brush the pies with the egg wash and sprinkle liberally with sugar.
If you want larger pies, you can use two pieces of pastry per hand pie. Cut an even number of rounds or shapes, a pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter is perfect for these pumpkin pies.
Using a 3.5-inch round cutter you can get approximately 4 pies per pastry sheet.
When filling the pies, add the filling to half of the cutouts, then top with the remaining cutouts and crimp the edges to close.
Storing Leftovers
Store these pumpkin hand pies in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
You can also store these in the freezer in an air-tight container for several months.
Tips for Success
- Don’t overfill the pies. Adding lots of pie filling is tempting, but if they are too full, they will burst open in the air fryer.
- Don’t crowd the basket. You need to cook these in a single layer and leave some room around them so the air can circulate properly, ensuring the bottoms are fully cooked.
More Air Fryer Pastries
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Printable Recipe
Air Fried Pumpkin Hand Pies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 deep dish pie crusts
- 1 cup pumpkin pie filling
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream or milk
- ¼ cup sugar granulated or coarse
Instructions
- Unroll the pastry and cut each pie crust into rounds or shapes with a cookie cutter.
- Place one tablespoon of pumpkin pie filling in the middle of half of the pastries. Top with the remaining pastry cutouts, then seal around the edges with a fork. Alternatively, cut into large rounds or rectangles, add the filling to one half of the pastry and then fold the pastry over the filling, and crimp the edges.
- Poke holes, or cut a small slit in the top of each hand pie.
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg and cream together. Brush over the hand pies. Then sprinkle liberally with sugar.
- Place the hand pies in a single layer of an air fryer basket. Set the air fryer to 350°F and cook for 8-9 minutes until golden brown. Work in batches if needed.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.