Gluten Free Pumpkin Hand Pies

by

Food & Dining

By Alison Rose Munn

Holidays are hard for me. So many traditional foods have gluten in them. Dessert is my favorite part of the meal so I always take it over to make a dessert both my gluten free friends and non-gluten free friends will enjoy. Recently a friend emailed me to ask for my GF pie crust recipe as a family member had just been diagnosed with Celiac’s and she was in charge of dessert. I told her to find a cup-for-cup or all-purpose gluten free flour mix and then make the crust as she always had. The two tips I gave were to chill everything, to make sure she has plenty of extra flour on hand while rolling out the dough. Gluten free dough is sticky and these tips will help combat that stickiness. If you are making your first gluten free pie, follow these tips and you will be fine.

For my own Thanksgiving this year, I had decided to play around with the traditional pumpkin pie and remembered a recipe I stumbled upon last year. I experimented making them into pumpkin hand pies and my roommates were grateful for the treat, gobbling up my experiments. If you are looking for something different to make this holiday season I hope you enjoy these little treats!

Note – If you will be short on time the day of the meal, prepare the dough and the filling ahead of time and chill so all you have to do is assemble and bake them day of. These are best when served fresh out of the oven.

CRUST:

  • 2 ½ cups gluten free flour (I use Bob's Red Mill Cup for Cup)
  • ¾ tsp salt
  • 4 ½ tbsp sugar
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter, cubed
  • 1/3 cup vegetable shortening
  • ½ tsp lemon juice
  • ½ cup cold water

  1. Chill the ingredients.
  2. Mix the dry ingredients.
  3. If you have a food processor, pulse the butter and shortening in. If not, cut them in until the dough resembles course cornmeal.
  4. Add in lemon juice and water until a dough forms.
  5. Chill the dough overnight.

FILLING:

  • 1 cups pumpkin puree
  • 1 ½ cups sweetened condensed milk
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 2 tsp cinnamon powder
  • ¾ tsp nutmeg
  • ½ ground cloves
  • ½ tsp ginger powder
  • ½ tsp salt

  1. Mix together all ingredients but for the cheese.
  2. If you have time, chill the filling. This makes it easier to dribble on the hand pies without it running.

ASSEMBLING:

  • 8 oz Fortina cheese, shredded
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • heavy cream

  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees, grease a cookie sheet.
  2. Roll out dough, cut with a cup.
  3. Place half the dough rounds on the cookie sheet, sprinkle shredded cheese then drizzle pumpkin mixture over. Cover with the other half of dough rounds.
  4. Mix egg and 1 tsp cream together, ush over each pie.
  5. Bake for ten minutes, turn, bake for another fifteen.
  6. Whip the cream.
  7. Serve warm and enjoy!