For a quick bite during the hectic Halloween season, grab a delicious Jack O’Lantern Ham and Swiss Hand Pie. They are way easier to make than carving a pumpkin, and taste as good as they look!
The ingredients for these little morsels include store-bought pie crust, Dijon mustard, Swiss cheese, ham, and an egg for the egg wash. For variety, you could also use Brie in place of the Swiss cheese.
I unrolled one of the pie crusts onto a floured surface, and used a Wilton Pumpkin cookie cutter to cut the shapes. I was able to get seven pumpkins from one crust. I repeated the process with the other pie crust. Previously, I had made a template with cut-outs of the eyes and nose on card stock, so I used that as a pattern to cut out the eyes and noses on half of the pumpkins with a sharp knife.
I spread some mustard on the uncut side of one of pumpkin shapes, and topped that with some Swiss cheese and ham, making sure that I left space around the edge. Then, I put one of the cut pumpkin shapes on top, and pressed all around to produce a seal.
I brushed the tops with some egg wash, and baked them at 425° F for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, the hand pies were a golden brown. I transferred them to a wire rack, and let them cool for about 5 minutes before sampling one of the morsels. They were crispy delicious. Yum!
Here’s a short video showing how to make these adorable little hand pies. Check it out!
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 box refrigerated pie crusts
- 3 to 4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 3 to 4 slices thinly sliced Black Forest or Virginia ham, cut in half
- 3 to 4 slices thinly sliced Swiss cheese, cut in half
- 1 large egg, plus 1 Tablespoon water for egg wash
Instructions
- Heat oven to 425°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with nonstick foil or parchment paper.
- Make a template of pumpkin cookie cutter on card stock. Cut out eyes and nose.
- Unroll pie crusts on floured surface. Cut each crust into 6 to 7 pumpkin shapes with a 3-in. pumpkin cookie cutter.
- Using template, cut eyes and nose with a sharp knife on half of the cutouts.
- Spread 1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard on solid pumpkin shapes.
- Fold Swiss cheese into 2-inch squares, and place on top of mustard.
- Fold ham into 2-inch squares and place on top of cheese.
- Top with remaining pumpkins with cut-out faces. Carefully press edges to seal.
- Place on prepared baking sheet. Brush tops with egg wash. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown Transfer to wire rack to cool. Let cool on rack 5 minutes before serving. Yield 6 to 7 hand pies.
