Boo Berry Ghosts Puff Pastry Hand Pies

Boo Berry Ghosts

Boo Berry Ghosts are palm-size puff-pastry hand pies filled with thick blueberry-lemon compote. Two small eye holes and a larger mouth cut through the top pastry let the dark filling make each face—no icing needed. Keep the filling completely cool and the pastry cold so the ghosts hold their rounded shape and bake into flaky, golden layers.

Makes: 8 hand pies. Time: About 1 hour 15 minutes, including cooling and chilling.

Ingredients for Boo Berry Ghosts

• 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (225g)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar (50g)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/8 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 sheets all-butter puff pastry, thawed but cold (about 490g total)
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon water
• 1 tablespoon coarse sugar, optional

Use a compact ghost cookie cutter or a paper template with a rounded head, short arms, and a broad wavy bottom. A drinking straw or small piping tip can cut the eyes; use a larger round tip or cutter for the mouth. Thin, delicate arms and tails can brown before the rest of the pastry.

How to Make Boo Berry Ghosts

1. Cook the filling: Combine the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 6 to 10 minutes, stirring regularly, until the berries burst and the filling is glossy and jammy. It should mound on a spoon with very little loose liquid.
2. Cool completely: Spread the filling in a shallow bowl or on a plate. Let it cool, then refrigerate as needed until it is no longer warm. Warm filling softens puff pastry and makes leaks more likely.
3. Cut the ghosts: Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C) and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Lightly roll the cold pastry only if needed to smooth seams, then cut 16 matching, palm-size ghost shapes. In eight pieces, cut two small round eyes and one noticeably larger round or oval mouth. Puff pastry expands as it bakes, so make the openings large enough to remain visible. Refrigerate the cut pastry if it begins to soften.
4. Fill and seal: Whisk the egg with the water. Place the eight uncut bases on the baking sheet at least 2 inches apart. Add about 1 tablespoon of cooled filling to each, centered beneath the face area, leaving a clean 1/2-inch border. Lightly brush the borders with egg wash, add the face-cut tops, press the edges together, and crimp firmly with a fork. Do not flatten the filled centers.
5. Chill and brush: Refrigerate the assembled ghosts for 15 minutes to firm the pastry and help the shapes hold as they puff. Lightly brush the tops with egg wash, keeping it out of the face openings. Sprinkle with coarse sugar, if using.
6. Bake: Bake uncovered for 16 to 20 minutes, beginning to check at 15 minutes. Rotate the sheet after about 10 minutes if your oven browns unevenly. The pastry should be well puffed, dry-looking, flaky, and golden, with darker amber tips and thick blueberry filling visible through the faces. If the tips darken too quickly, loosely tent those areas. Cool for 10 minutes before serving; the filling will be hot.

If the ghosts will not fit with room to expand, bake one sheet at a time and refrigerate the waiting pastries. A very dark baking sheet may brown the bottoms sooner, so check early.

How to Keep the Blueberry Filling Inside

Use thick, completely cooled filling and keep to about 1 tablespoon per palm-size pie. Extra filling can push through the seams as the pastry rises. Leave the border free of fruit, apply only a thin layer of egg wash, and crimp all the way around. The face holes let steam escape, but they cannot make up for an unsealed edge.

Blueberry Jam Shortcut and Serving

Instead of cooking the compote, use about 1/2 cup of thick blueberry jam mixed with lemon juice and a tiny pinch of salt. Spoon about 1 tablespoon into each pie. Avoid thin preserves, which can run out during baking.

Serve the ghosts warm or at room temperature, on their own or with vanilla ice cream. For another ghost-themed sweet, add these Ghost Thumbprint Cookies with White Chocolate Ganache to the dessert table.

Storage, Reheating, and Freezing

These hand pies are flakiest on the day they are baked. Cool leftovers completely, then refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 days, placing parchment between layers if stacking. Reheat in a toaster oven or a 350°F (175°C) oven until warm and re-crisped; a microwave will soften the pastry.

The blueberry filling can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. To freeze unbaked pies, arrange the assembled ghosts in a single layer on a parchment-lined sheet until firm, then transfer to a freezer-safe container or bag. Bake from frozen at 400°F, adding several minutes and checking for fully puffed, golden pastry. Do not thaw first.

Nutrition

Approximate nutrition per hand pie, based on 8 pies: 350 calories, 5g protein, 21g fat, and 37g carbohydrates. Approximate values per 100g of baked pastry: 370 calories, 5g protein, 22g fat, and 39g carbohydrates. Values exclude optional coarse sugar and vary with the puff-pastry brand, pie size, and moisture lost during baking.