Pumpkin turnovers…

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…or handheld pies or pop tart thingies…or whatever. But, no matter what you call them, they sure are cute & tasty!

The inspiration for these little yummies comes from Joy the Baker. I have a husband who loves all things pumpkin and well, loves pop tarts. So, when I saw her Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts recipe, I knew I must try something like it.

One of my good friends wanted to try them too–we just altered things slightly to fit our tastes and time (watching 3 little ones while baking).

So, she brought over fresh steamed pumpkin from her garden and some cream cheese dough balls. The dough recipe came from this site on making cherry turnovers.

Cream Cheese dough (which is super yummy & I think I will be using for homemade pie crusts from now on):

-1.5 C unbleached all-purpose flour

-1 t sugar

-pinch of salt

-1 stick cold, unsalted butter (diced)

-1 package cold cream cheese (cut into pieces)

1. Place dry ingredients in medium bowl and mix together. Using your fingers (or a food processor), add the cold, diced butter and mix it together until you have only small clumps (in a food processor the mixture should resemble bread crumbs). Then, add in the pieces of cream cheese and mix until large clumps of dough have formed.

2. Remove dough and place onto a lightly flour dusted surface (counter or cutting board) and knead until the dough has formed nicely. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes (this can be made ahead of time–in our case, it was made the night before).

Pumpkin filling

(you can adjust these amounts to your taste. If you don’t like it “spicy”, start with less of all and just add until you get the flavor right. Also, I’m sure you could just use pumpkin pie filling mixture–whatever recipe you use to make that)

-3/4 C pumpkin puree

-1 egg

-pinch of ground cloves

-1/4 t ground ginger

-1/2 t cinnamon

-1/4 t salt

-1/3 C granulated sugar

1. Add your pumpkin & spices to a small saucepan and warm over medium heat just until everything starts smelling nice (to bring out the flavors). Then, remove from heat and mix in egg, salt, and sugar. Set aside (or set in fridge) while you roll out the dough.

2. On a well floured surface (don’t forget this as we did with the first batch!), roll out the dough to about 1/8-inch thickness. Then, trim the edges with a knife or pizza cutter so that you have a large rectangle.

3. Then, cut dough (as evenly as possible) into rectangles. You can choose how big or small to make them. Brush the rectangles lightly with beaten egg.

4. Spoon about a tablespoon (depending on the size of your rectangles) of the pumpkin filling on to one end of each rectangle.

5. Fold the other end over on top of the filled end and use a fork to crimp/seal the edges. Brush tops lightly with beaten egg (you could also try adding a nice cinnamon-sugar mix here or even just some turbinado sugar).

6. Bake at 350 (or in our case, 325 convection bake) for about 25 minutes or until the tops start looking golden.

7. Let cool; then frost, glaze, freeze, or just devour! 🙂

We left a few out to try, but actually froze the rest (hoping they turn out ok)! Because we were freezing, we opted not to glaze/frost them (yet). We made two batches (doubled the recipe) and it yielded just shy of 30. Again, it all depends on what size you want to make these.
So, if you’re in need of a new pumpkin recipe, give these little pumpkin turnover/pop tart things a try. They really weren’t too difficult and are definitely something fun & different from just regular ‘ole pumpkin pie.

Do you have any fun & different pumpkin recipes that you love?

**UPDATE*: Both my friend and I have tried some of the ones that we froze. Verdict: Awesome! You can thaw just a bit in the microwave and then toast–just like a pop tart. How great it would be to make up a whole batch now to have ready for a hectic Thanksgiving or Christmas morning! And, on another note, these would be great to take over to a new mom. A simple, convenient breakfast or dessert treat that comes in individual servings (I don’t know about you, but in those post-partum weeks, I found myself eating at all kinds of weird times and it was super convenient to have individual portioned items!).**

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I’m Sara, a mom to three adorable boys living in the Arizona desert. As a former teacher, I love sharing my passions with others. So, have a look around for creative inspiration about cooking, creating, celebrating, traveling with kids, and more everyday mom endeavors!