Celebrate your love for all things Harry Potter (or simply celebrate fall) with these homemade Pumpkin Pasties. They're essentially pumpkin and spice filled hand pies. Although you can find these treats at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios, you can easily make them yourselves at home with this simple recipe!
Pumpkin Pasties are a wizarding food sold by the Honeydukes Express Trolley on the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter series. They’re similar to a Cornish pasty, which is a half-moon shaped savory hand pie traditionally filled with beef and potatoes. But of course these are filled with pumpkin instead.
While some people believe the pumpkin pasties from the books and movies may actually be savory, I definitely think they’re sweet. After all, they're sold alongside boxes of wizard candies.
Honeydukes specializes in sweets so it would only make sense that these are dessert pasties. The pumpkin pasties sold in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios theme parks are also sweet.
They are also incredibly easy to make, especially if you use store-bought pie dough. If you love Harry Potter and you love pumpkin pie, then these flaky handheld pumpkin pasties are perfect for you!
Ingredient notes
- Pumpkin Puree: Use pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling (which contains additional ingredients). If you have leftover pumpkin puree, try making Pumpkin Pecan Scones with Maple Glaze, Buttermilk Pumpkin Spice Waffles, or Disneyland Pumpkin Beignets.
- Pie Dough: You can use two store-bought ready-made pie crusts (the kind that's rolled out and frozen but not pressed into a pie plate) or homemade pie dough (enough for two single-crust pies or a double-crust pie). I've shared my preferred homemade pie dough recipe below (following the pumpkin pasties recipe). This homemade pie dough is truly exceptional and will take your pumpkin pasties to another level. It's worth the added effort in my opinion.
- Brown Sugar: The filling for these pumpkin pasties is sweetened with light brown sugar. This isn't a super sweet filling, but just sweet enough in my opinion. If you prefer an even sweeter pumpkin filling, you can increase the amount of sugar by another tablespoon or two. Perhaps taste the filling first (before adding the egg) and make the decision then if you want to sweeten it more.
- Spices: Instead of calling for "pumpkin pie spice" I actually list out the spices you should use since not everyone has pumpkin pie spice. You could, however, use about 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice in place of the list of spices in the recipe if you prefer.
How to make it
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
If using homemade pie dough, remove the dough from the fridge and let it rest for a few minutes at room temperature. It will be easier to roll out if it’s not ice cold.
Make the filling by whisking all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl until smooth.
If using homemade pie dough, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the one pastry disk until it is ⅛-inch thick (or even slightly thinner). If using ready-made pie crust, simply unroll a thawed pie crust onto your floured work surface.
Cut out 5-to-6-inch diameter circles of dough (use an inverted plate or bowl and a paring knife to trace around it) (PHOTOS 1-2).
Set aside the dough circles. Continue with the remaining disk of pie dough and reroll the scraps if necessary. You should have 8 circles of dough.
If the dough circles have warmed up and softened too much, place the dough circles in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to firm back up (if they are too soft or warm, they can get sticky and hard to work with).
To assemble pumpkin pasties, place about 2 tablespoons of filling in the center of each dough circle.
Fold the dough over onto itself, pressing the edges to seal (if the dough seems dry and doesn't stick to itself, brush the edges with a little water first).
Then use the tines of a fork over the edges to crimp them. Repeat with the remaining dough circles and filling.
Arrange the pumpkin pasties on the prepared baking sheet. Chill them on the sheet pan in the fridge for 30 minutes or in the freezer for about 10 minutes to firm up. They will bake up flakier if the pastry is cold.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400°F with the rack in the center.
After the pasties have chilled, remove them from the refrigerator or freezer. To vent, cut 3 slits on top of each. Alternatively, cut a Harry Potter lightning bolt scar onto the center of each.
Lightly brush the tops with egg wash.
Bake the pumpkin pasties for about 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown.
Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer pumpkin pasties to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe (in a printable recipe card) including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.
Expert tips
I use 6-inch circles for my pumpkin pasties in these photos, but I think 5-inch circles would have an even better dough to filling ratio. Slightly smaller pasties would also fit a bit more comfortably on the baking sheet.
The softness of your raw filling may vary slightly depending on what brand pumpkin puree you use. For example, Trader Joe’s organic pumpkin puree (used in these photos) is a bit wetter and softer than Libby’s canned pumpkin puree. The addition of egg will help set the filling as it bakes in any case.
Because my preferred pie dough (recipe below) uses butter and shortening, it’s a bit softer than an all-butter dough. Therefore it needs a bit more time to chill to firm back up after rolling and shaping the pumpkin pasties. It's also easier to roll out right out of the fridge without requiring extra time to soften.
If using homemade pie dough, try rolling the dough more into a square rather than a circle. This will make it a bit easier to cut four circles out of each disk of dough, one from each quadrant.
I also tend to use some of the dough scraps from cutting circles to patch up sections of dough that need a bit more dough in order to cut another circle there. Press the already rolled scraps along the edge to make the dough just large enough to fit another circle. My homemade dough sticks really well to itself so this is easy to do.
For me this works better than rerolling the scraps from scratch to yield more circles. The more you re-roll pie dough, the less flaky (and potentially tough) it may become. Be sure to leave the patched up part of the circle on the bottom of each pasty when folding over. This way it's not visible when baked.
Other recipes you may like
- Pumpkin Juice (from Harry Potter)
- Fizzing Whizzbees Chocolate Candies from Harry Potter
- Rock Cakes for Harry Potter
- Harry Potter Afternoon Tea Sandwiches
- Chicken and Mushroom Pies for Harry Potter
- Brown Butter Pumpkin Pie
Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also follow me on social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
Harry Potter Pumpkin Pasties
Ingredients
- 2 ready-made pie crusts or enough homemade pie dough for 2 single-crust pies (my preferred pie dough recipe follows)
Filling:
- 1 cup (225 grams) pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 3 tablespoons (40 grams) packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Egg wash:
- 1 egg beaten with 2 teaspoons water
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- If using homemade pie dough, remove the dough from the fridge and let it rest for a few minutes at room temperature. It will be easier to roll out if it’s not ice cold.
- Make the filling by whisking all the ingredients together in a small mixing bowl until smooth.
- If using homemade pie dough, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the one pastry disk until it is ⅛-inch thick (or even slightly thinner). If using ready-made pie crust, simply unroll a thawed pie crust onto your floured work surface.
- Cut out 5-to-6-inch diameter circles of dough (use an inverted plate or bowl and a paring knife to trace around it). Set aside the dough circles. Continue with the remaining disk of pie dough and reroll the scraps if necessary. You should have 8 circles of dough.
- If the dough circles have warmed up and softened too much, place the dough circles in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to firm back up (if they are too soft or warm, they can get sticky and hard to work with).
- To assemble pumpkin pasties, place about 2 tablespoons of filling in the center of each dough circle. Fold the dough over onto itself, pressing the edges to seal (if the dough seems dry and doesn't stick to itself, brush the edges with a little water first). Use the tines of a fork over the edges to crimp them. Repeat with the remaining dough circles and filling.
- Arrange the pumpkin pasties on the prepared baking sheet. Chill them on the sheet pan in the fridge for 30 minutes or in the freezer for about 10 minutes to firm up (they will bake up flakier if the pastry is cold).
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400°F with the rack in the center.
- After the pasties have chilled, remove them from the refrigerator or freezer. To vent, cut 3 slits on top of each, or cut a Harry Potter lightning bolt scar onto the center of each. Lightly brush the tops with the prepared egg wash. If the egg wash fills in the vent cuts, just use your knife to go over the cuts again to make sure they are open. Then bake for about 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown.
- Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer pasties to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Instead of calling for "pumpkin pie spice" I actually list out the spices you should use since not everyone has pumpkin pie spice. You could, however, use about 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice in place of the list of spices in the recipe if you prefer.
- If you prefer an even sweeter pumpkin filling, you can increase the amount of brown sugar by another tablespoon or two. Perhaps taste the filling first (before adding the egg) and make the decision then if you want to sweeten it more.
- If using homemade pie dough, try rolling the dough more into a square rather than a circle. This will make it a bit easier to cut four circles out of each disk of dough, one from each quadrant.
Nutrition
*All 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.*
The Best Dough for Flaky Piecrust
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (312 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon (6 grams) salt
- ¾ cup (170 grams) cold unsalted butter cut into ¼-inch cubes and frozen
- ¼ cup (60 grams) vegetable shortening preferably in baking stick form, frozen, cut into ¼-inch pieces, and put back in the freezer
- ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon (130 grams) ice-cold water
Instructions
- Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse 3 times to blend. Scatter the frozen butter cubes over the flour mixture. Pulse the machine 5 to 7 times, holding each pulse for a 5 full seconds, to cut all of the butter into pea-size pieces.
- Scatter the pieces of frozen shortening over the flour-and-butter mixture. Pulse the machine 4 more 1-second pulses to blend the shortening with the flour. The mixture will resemble coarse cornmeal, but will be a bit more floury and riddled with pale butter bits (no pure-white shortening should be visible).
- Turn the mixture out into a large mixing bowl, and make a small well in the center. If you find a few butter clumps that are closer to marble size than pea size (about ¼ inch in diameter), carefully pick them out and give them a quick smoosh with your fingers. Pour the cold water into the well.
- Use a curved bowl scraper to lightly scoop the flour mixture up and over the water, covering the water to help get the absorption started. Continue mixing by scraping the flour up from the sides and bottom of the bowl into the center, rotating the bowl as you mix, and occasionally pausing to clean off the scraper with your finger or the side of the bowl, until the mixture begins to gather into clumps but is still very crumbly. (If you are working in very dry conditions and the ingredients remain very floury and refuse to clump together at this stage, add another tablespoon of ice-cold water.)
- Lightly gather the clumps with your fingers and use your palm to fold over and press the dough a few times (don’t knead! —just give the dough a few quick squishes), until it just begins to come together into a single large mass.
- For single- and double-crust pies, mini pies, potpies, or hand pies: Divide the dough into 2 equal portions, gently shape each portion into a flat disk 1 ½ to 2 inches thick, and wrap each tightly with plastic wrap. For quiche, leave the dough in one piece, flatten it into a single large disk 1 ½ to 2 inches thick, and wrap tightly with plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate the dough for at least 8 hours or up to 3 days before rolling. (The dough may discolor slightly. No worries. This is merely oxidization and will not affect the flavor or appearance of your finished piecrust.)
Notes
- The wrapped, chilled dough can be put in a freezer bag and frozen for up to 2 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before rolling.
- Adapted from Magpie
*All 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.*
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