Pumpking Pasties

I have always been intrigued by the idea of these pumpkin pasties, which I always have to include the note next to that the word "pasty" that it rhymes with "nasty".  Having had a few pasties when I was in the UK--mostly in Scotland--I was curious how it would be that a pumpkin filling wouldn't just run everywhere.  I am sure that this could be accomplished with magic, but what about in the non-wizarding world?  So I decided to just jump in and try it.  Cornstarch seemed like my best bet, since it would probably take too much flour and then the filling would be peach, not orange.  From there, I basically just added bits and pieces of pumpkin pie filling that made sense.  I was amazed at how nice these looked and how great they tasted.  Now whether they are like the ones Harry Potter ate on the Hogwarts Express, well, that I think is debatable.  But I enjoyed them. Note about how I shaped these: I have a cut and seal tool, which really saved me time and gave me a very polished finished product.  You can buy a cut and seal tool like I have here: The Pampered Chef Cut N Seal #1195

Makes 12 pasties

1 cup pumpkin puree (homemade or canned)
1 tablespoon cornstarch (if using homemade puree, use 1 1/2 tablespoon)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Generous dash ground nutmeg
Dash ground cloves
Dash ground ginger
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3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
Dash cinnamon
3/4 cup oil
6 tablespoons water
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1-2 teaspoons sugar, for sprinkling

1. In mixing bowl, stir pumpkin and cornstarch together until cornstarch is absorbed and no lumps remain.  Stir in 1/3 cup sugar--you will notice it get a little watery with this and that is fine--cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger.  Set aside.
2. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
3. In medium mixing bowl, toss flour with salt and cinnamon.  Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.  In measuring cup, measure oil and water together.  Whisk oil and water together until the mixture looks milky.  Pour liquid, all at once, into well in the center of the flour.  Stir liquid into flour until all flour is absorbed.  Divide dough into thirds and shape each third into a ball.
4. Cut two squares of waxed paper.  Place dough ball between the two sheets of waxed paper and roll out until dough is the same size as the waxed paper.  Cut large circles with a cookie cutter or your cut-and-seal instrument, turning the cutter to make a clean cut.  With one third of the dough, you should have 8 dough circles.  Any scraps between circles can be lifted and incorporated into remaining 2 thirds of dough.   Using a small cookie cutter, press a shape into 4 dough circles but do not wiggle the small cutter to cut through the dough.  Place 2 tablespoons of pumpkin mixture on the 4 dough circles without the shape cut-out, then spread the pumpkin into a disc of equal thickness to within about 1/4 inch of dough circle edge.  Use a spatula to lift a dough circle with the shape cut-out, then use your hands to place the cut-out over the pumpkin.  The edges of the bottom (no cut-out) dough circle and the top (cut-out) dough circle should be about even.  Seal edges of dough with fork or with cut-and-seal.  Lift sealed pasty onto prepared cookie sheet.  Fill, layer, seal, and transfer remaining 3 pasties from this dough.  In the process or making the pasty, the cut-out in the dough will likely free itself from the dough circle.  As long as it is in place, leave it. The cutouts allow steam to escape, but exposed filling will get leathery so leave the cut-out in as cover against that.
5. Roll out the other thirds of dough as described in step 4.  Make 4 more pasties out of each remaining dough ball as described in step 4. 
6. Sprinkle 1-2 teaspoons sugar over tops of pasties on cookie sheet.  Bake pasties in 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until edges are dark gold and tops are lightly browned.  Allow pasties to cool on the cookie sheet, then store in an air-tight container.  They can be frozen for 1-2 weeks or kept at room temperature for up to 3 days.