Nutella Ghost Hand Pies

Craving a Halloween snack that's equal parts spooky and sweet? Say hello to Nutella Ghost Hand Pies! The recipe requires only four ingredients: creamy Nutella, refrigerated pie dough, powdered sugar and milk. Perfect for Halloween parties or sharing with friends together with Oreo Dirt Cups with Gummy Worms.

Halloween is the ideal time for fun baking. It can be silly, whimsical or even spooky and most people love it, especially kids. Make them all: Chocolate Covered Ritz Cracker Spiders or Halloween Rice Krispie Treats.

Nutella Ghost Pies are a quick and easy dessert that's part spooky, part chocolatey, and totally do-able even at the last minute. Ideal for Halloween, perfect for sharing and way more fun than your average dessert. For non-halloween hand pies, check out these Flaky Blueberry Hand Pies

What is Halloween ghost hand pie?

Think of the hand pie as a mini pie you can hold in your hand with fork needed. The "ghost" part comes from cutting the pastry into ghost-like shapes with a help of a cookie cutter or freehand with a knife and then using straw or a knife to make eyes, nose and mouth.

I made these Halloween ghost hand pies with refrigerated pie dough shaped into little ghost figures, then filled each ghost with Nutella and then baked them until golden perfection.

Why You'll Love These Ghost Pies

• Cute & spooky without being scary: These whimsical puff pastry ghosts make each pie look like they popped right out of a Halloween story, but still totally kid-friendly.
• Only a handful of ingredients: They couldn't be easier with 4 simple ingredients and they'll be a sure hit!
• Chocolatey & crunchy: Nutella gives you rich, hazelnut-chocolate flavor, while the puff pastry crust adds crunch. It's the kind of dessert where every bite feels like dessert awesome.
• Make them year-round: These would still be a hit for birthday parties, potlucks, or as a "just because" dessert. Just skip the ghost shape after the holiday.

Ingredients You'll Need

• Refrigerated pie dough: Baking these ghosts is a breeze using premade dough.
• Nutella: For whimsical and not so scary filling.
• Milk and powdered sugar: The spooky glaze for the halloween ghost mini-pies.

How To Make Nutella Ghost Pies

Step 1. Make the pie crust ghosts

1. Roll out one pie dough on a clean, smooth surface. 
2. Using a 3.5 inch ghost cookie cutter (linked in notes section), cut out 12 ghosts from the pie crust.
3. Place each ghost on the prepared baking sheet.

Step 2. Add Nutella

In the center of each ghost, add about 2 teaspoons of Nutella.

Step 3. Cut 12 more ghosts

1. Roll out your other pie dough and cut out another 12 ghosts.
2. Use a straw to make 2 eyes and a nose on each ghost from the second rolled out pie dough.
3. Place one cut out ghost on top of a Nutella filled ghost. 

Step 4. Crimp the edges

Use a fork to crimp the edges of each Nutella ghost.

Step 5. Bake

Bake on the center rack of the oven for 8-10 minutes. Ghosts should be golden brown.

Step 6. Add glaze

1. Allow to slightly cool, then mix together powdered sugar and milk.
2. Use a pastry brush to brush the powdered sugar and milk mixture on top of each ghost. Allow it to set.Crush your cookies into fine crumbs, stir in melted butter, and press the mix into the bottoms of small serving cups or mini pie tins.

Tips & Tricks

• Space is important: When adding Nutella to the pie ghosts, make sure you leave space around the edges so you can crimp the pie dough together and the nutella won't spill out.
• Ghost shape cookie cutters: I used steel Halloween Ghost cookie cutters.
• When to brush: If you don't want to brush on the thin icing at the end, you can brush a whisked egg yolk onto the dough before you bake it.

Substitutions and variations

• Replace Nutella with fruit jam (raspberry one is sooo good in ghost hand pies), or chocolate.
• Add nuts to Nutella: If you like more texture, mix some chopped hazelnuts into Nutella for crunchy filling.
• To make ghosts gluten free: Switch out the pastry for a gluten-free puff pastry version.
• To make them dairy free: Any dairy-free milk will work perfect for this recipe.

What to serve ghost hand pies with

I recommend pairing them up with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a drizzle of chocolate syrup or a light whipped cream.

Storage

These little ghost pies stay good in the fridge in a sealed container for 2-3 days. Even though they may get a little soft over time, they stay tasty. If you want to take them to a party, add layers of parchment paper to keep the ghost pies from sticking together.

• Store Nutella ghost pies in a sealed container in the fridge, allow to come to room temperature before enjoying.
• Best served day of making.
• Best eaten 2 days of making.

More Easy Halloween Treats

• Chocolate Covered Ritz Cracker Spiders
• Halloween Rice Krispie Treats
• Halloween Brownie Cakesicles
• Little Shop of Horrors "Audrey" Cupcakes

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