These easy Pumpkin Turnovers are warm and gooey and taste oh so pumpkiny. Store bought puff pastry wraps a pumpkin cream cheese filling full of fall spices, and the cream cheese drizzle adds just enough sweetness that it’s hard to eat just one.
One of my favorite flavors for dessert recipes this time of year is pumpkin, and pumpkin is not just for fall anymore; you can eat it all year long. These make great breakfast treats or snacks, like my pumpkin scones or pumpkin pancakes.
The turnovers can be made in under 30 minutes, which makes them an easy dessert treat. I do have to say that one is not enough. They are that good.
Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 18 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 28 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 8 turnovers
- ⚡ Calories: 449kcal per turnover
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Flaky pastry around a spiced pumpkin cream cheese filling, with a sweet cream cheese drizzle
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, the puff pastry is store bought
Quick Answer
Cut two sheets of thawed puff pastry into 4 squares each. Beat the pumpkin puree, softened cream cheese, powdered sugar and pumpkin pie spice together, spoon a large spoonful onto each square between the center and one corner, brush the edges with water, fold into triangles and seal with a fork. Bake at 400 degrees for about 18 minutes, until brown. Meanwhile, whisk the softened cream cheese, milk and powdered sugar for the drizzle, snip the corner of a baggie, and drizzle over the warm turnovers.
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Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Puff pastry does the hard part. The bakery flake comes from dozens of butter layers that took someone else all day; your job is just keeping the pastry cold until it hits the oven.
- Cream cheese fixes pumpkin’s one flaw. Pumpkin puree alone bakes watery; beating it with cream cheese thickens the filling so it stays gooey instead of leaking.
- Puree, not pie filling. Pie filling is pre sweetened and loose; with puree you control the sugar and the filling holds its shape.
- Filling goes off center. Placing the spoonful between the center and one corner leaves a clean margin to seal, which is the difference between a turnover and a leak.
- Water plus fork tines is the seal. The dampened edge glues the pastry to itself and the crimp locks it, so the steam pushes the pastry up instead of out.
- A 400 degree oven is not negotiable. High heat flashes the butter layers into steam, which is what puffs the pastry. A cooler oven melts the butter out instead.
- The drizzle goes on after baking, so it stays a bright, tangy stripe instead of melting into the glaze.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Under 30 minutes, and most of that is the oven working while you make the drizzle.
- Five pantry ingredients plus pastry. No dough making, no rolling pin.
- Breakfast, snack or dessert. Warm from the oven or at room temperature, they work at every hour, which is dangerous.
- Party sized on demand. Cut the squares in half again as you assemble and you get pretty little dessert appetizers for a holiday tray.
- Full of fall flavors and spices, especially with a little pumpkin pie spice sprinkled on top to make them extra special.
- The gateway pumpkin bake. Once these disappear, my pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting and caramel pumpkin cookies are the logical next step.
Key Ingredients
Six ingredients cover both the turnovers and the drizzle. Quantities are in the recipe card below.
- Frozen Puff Pastry. One box, two sheets, thawed but still cold. Cold pastry puffs; warm pastry slumps.
- Pumpkin Puree. Plain puree, not pie filling, so the filling stays thick and you control the sweetness.
- Cream Cheese, softened. Four ounces in the filling and two more in the drizzle; it is the backbone of both.
- Powdered Sugar. It dissolves instantly into the filling and drizzle with no grit.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice. The whole fall spice cabinet in one measure; make your own and it is even better.
- Milk. Two teaspoons to thin the drizzle to piping consistency.
See the recipe card below for exact quantities and full instructions.
Variations & Substitutions
- Make them mini. Cut each square in half again as you assemble for smaller dessert appetizers; watch the bake time, they brown faster.
- Swap the spice. A homemade chai spice mix turns the same filling gently chai instead of classic pumpkin.
- Add crunch: chopped pecans or walnuts scattered over the filling before folding.
- Maple drizzle: swap the milk for maple syrup in the drizzle for a deeper fall glaze.
- Egg wash finish. Brushing the tops with beaten egg before baking gives a deeper golden shine, if you want them extra glossy.
- Apple pie filling in place of the pumpkin mixture turns them into shortcut apple turnovers; my lattice top apple pie has the from scratch filling worth borrowing.
How to Make Pumpkin Turnovers
- Place a thawed puff pastry sheet on a cookie sheet. Use a sharp knife to cut the pastry into 4 even squares, and repeat with the second sheet.
- Combine the pumpkin, cream cheese, powdered sugar and spice in a mixer until smooth.
- Place a large spoonful of filling on each pastry square, putting the filling in between the center and one corner.
- Brush the edges with water, then fold into a triangle, pressing the edges together, and seal with a fork.
- Bake on a baking sheet at 400 degrees for 18 minutes, until brown.
- Meanwhile, combine the drizzle ingredients in a small bowl. Place in a piping bag or baggie and cut a small hole in the tip.
- Drizzle the turnovers with the cream cheese mixture.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Thaw the pastry in the refrigerator, not the counter. It should bend without cracking but still feel cool.
- Don’t overfill. A large spoonful is the ceiling; more than that pushes past the seal in the oven.
- Seal with intent. Damp edges, a firm fold, and fork tines all the way around each edge.
- Vent nothing. Turnovers seal completely; the puff comes from steam trapped inside, and a leak is a flat corner.
- Cool 5 minutes before the drizzle. On a blazing hot turnover the drizzle melts flat; on a warm one it sets in ribbons.
- Store extras airtight at room temperature for a day or refrigerate up to 3; re crisp in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes, then drizzle fresh if you are fancy.
Serving Ideas & Suggestions
Serve them warm from the oven for breakfast or an afternoon snack, with a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice on top to make them extra special. They are pretty enough for a holiday party tray, served warm or at room temperature, next to pumpkin swirl cheesecake brownies and pumpkin spice kiss cookies.
For a fall breakfast table, pair them with a slice of Amish cinnamon bread or a slow cooker French toast casserole, and pour an iced chai with pumpkin cold foam or a caramel brulee latte. The rest of my fall recipes and dessert recipes can fill in the table from there.
Pumpkin Turnover FAQs
Use plain pumpkin puree. Pie filling is already sweetened and much looser, so the filling turns runny and leaks past the seal. With puree, the cream cheese and powdered sugar set the texture and you control the sweetness.
Usually too much filling or a weak seal. Keep the spoonful between the center and one corner, brush the edges with water before folding, and crimp firmly with a fork all the way around.
Yes. Assemble them, freeze solid on the tray, and bag them; they bake straight from frozen at 400 degrees with a few extra minutes. Baked turnovers keep airtight for a day at room temperature or 3 days refrigerated.
Keep the pastry cold until it goes in the oven, don’t overfill, and bake at the full 400 degrees until genuinely brown, not just golden at the corners. Re crisp leftovers in the oven, never the microwave.
Yes, cut each pastry square in half again as you assemble to make smaller dessert appetizers. Use a smaller spoonful of filling and start checking the oven a few minutes early.
Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves or allspice. If the jar is empty, you can mix your own in two minutes and it tastes fresher than store bought.
Easy Pumpkin Turnovers with Cream Cheese Drizzle
Ingredients
- 1 box Frozen Puff Pastry 2 sheets thawed
- 1/2 Cup Pumpkin Puree not pie filling
- 4 Ounce Cream Cheese Softened
- 1/3 Cup Powdered Sugar
- 1/2 Teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Drizzle
- 2 Ounces cream cheese softened
- 2 Teaspoon milk
- 3 Tablespoon powdered sugar
Instructions
- Place thawed puff pastry on cookie sheet. Use a sharp knife to cut pastry into 4 even squares. Repeat for 2nd sheet.
- Combine pumpkin, cream cheese, sugar and spice in a mixer.
- Place a large spoonful of filling on each pastry square, putting the filling in between the center and one corner.
- Brush the edges with water, then fold into a triangle, pressing edges together and seal with a fork.
- Bake on a baking sheet at 400 degrees for 18 mins, until brown.
- Meanwhile, combine the drizzle ingredients in a small bowl. Place in a piping bag or baggie and cut a hole in the tip.
- Drizzle Turnovers with cream cheese mixture.
Jo says
Haven’t made them yet, but very excited to try on Thanksgiving.
Denise says
These are misnamed – they are turnovers; not popovers. A popover is essentially an egg & flour-based souffle where steam creates a hollow cavity inside a muffin-like structure. They are very similar to Yorkshire Pudding. A turnover is a triangular pastry usually made with puff pastry and then filled; typically with a fruit filling or as you do here w/ pumpkin & cream cheese. Please update the recipe name so as not to cause confusion for those seeking an actual popover recipe, thanks.