Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Make the pastry: Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Cut in the cold butter until coarse crumbs form with a few pea-sized pieces remaining.
- Add water: Gradually add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, gently mixing until the dough just comes together. Do not overwork it.
- Chill the dough: Shape the dough into a disk, wrap it, and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
- Prepare the filling: Whisk together pumpkin puree, brown sugar, egg, evaporated milk, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt until smooth.
- Roll the dough: Roll the chilled pastry on a lightly floured surface to approximately 1/8-inch thickness.
- Cut the crusts: Cut 12 pastry circles slightly larger than the muffin cavities.
- Shape the crusts: Gently press each pastry circle into a muffin cavity without stretching the dough. Refrigerate the shaped crusts for another 10–15 minutes.
- Create decorations: Use leftover pastry to cut small ghosts, bats, pumpkins, stars, leaves, or other festive shapes.
- Fill the crusts: Divide the pumpkin mixture evenly among the chilled pastry shells, leaving a little space at the top.
- Add decorations: Carefully place the pastry shapes on the filled pies.
- Bake: Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Bake for approximately 20–25 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown and the pumpkin filling is set around the edges with a slight gentle wobble in the center.
- Cool: Let the pies cool in the muffin tin for several minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack and allow them to cool completely.
- Finish and serve: Add a light dusting of powdered sugar, a little whipped cream, or a sprinkle of cinnamon if desired.
Notes
Use pure pumpkin puree, not canned pumpkin pie filling.
Keep the butter and pastry cold for the flakiest crust.
Avoid overmixing the dough, as excessive handling can make the crust tough.
Do not overbake the pumpkin filling. A slight wobble in the center is desirable because the custard continues setting as it cools.
If the pastry decorations brown too quickly, loosely cover the pies with foil during the latter part of baking.
For easier preparation, the pastry dough can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated.
Store completely cooled pies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3–4 days.
For a gluten-free version, use a tested gluten-free pie crust. For a vegan version, both the pastry and custard will need appropriate dairy- and egg-free substitutions.
These pies are vegetarian, but the standard recipe is not gluten-free, keto, low-carb, or vegan.
Keep the butter and pastry cold for the flakiest crust.
Avoid overmixing the dough, as excessive handling can make the crust tough.
Do not overbake the pumpkin filling. A slight wobble in the center is desirable because the custard continues setting as it cools.
If the pastry decorations brown too quickly, loosely cover the pies with foil during the latter part of baking.
For easier preparation, the pastry dough can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated.
Store completely cooled pies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3–4 days.
For a gluten-free version, use a tested gluten-free pie crust. For a vegan version, both the pastry and custard will need appropriate dairy- and egg-free substitutions.
These pies are vegetarian, but the standard recipe is not gluten-free, keto, low-carb, or vegan.