One halloween when I was five, I ended up in the ER with a buddy after she came close to slicing her finger off carving pumpkins with me. Not wanting to repeat this experience with my kids, I invented these Halloween “pop tart” treats.
They’re filled with sweet, creamy pumpkin puree and spiked with a touch of fall spices that will make your kitchen smell divine. While your kids mix the puree and stamp out the pumpkins, you can perform the more delicate design work with a knife so that your little chefs stay out of the ER!
½ cup pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Flour, for rolling out the dough
1 recipe Double Pie Crust or 1 package premade pie crust
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. In a bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pie crust to ¼ inch thick and, using a pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter, cut out about 20 pumpkin shapes. To make faces on your pumpkins, use a paring knife to cut out triangle eyes and a zigzag mouth on half of the pumpkins.
4. Place one pumpkin (without a face) on a lightly floured work surface and place 2 teaspoons of the filling in the center.
5. Lightly dip your index finger into a cup of water and “brush” the border of the dough with the water. This will allow the 2 sides of the dough to adhere to one another.
6. Top with a cutout pumpkin (with a face) and lightly press the edges together.
7. Repeat to make the rest of the pumpkin tarts.
8. Place the tarts on a parchment- or Silpat-lined baking sheet and bake for 18 minutes, or until golden.
9. Set the tarts aside to cool.
TO FREEZE: After step 7, place the assembled tarts on a baking sheet and freeze for 1 hour. Place the tarts in a ziplock bag, label, and freeze for up to 3 months. To bake, follow step 8, adding an extra 2 minutes to the baking time.