There are few foods not improved by a little dip in hot oil, but no one has capitalized on this cooking method with as much gusto as the American South. Chicken, steak, okra, oysters, and hush puppies are just a few of the foods Southerners love to fry. Over the last few years, their Thanksgiving tradition of deep frying a whole turkey has become popular across the country, thanks to its quick cooking time, crisp skin, and moist meat.

If deep frying can work wonders on an otherwise dry, flavorless turkey, we wondered what it could do for some other ho hum Thanksgiving foods. Deep fried green bean casserole? Well, maybe not every side dish was destined for the deep fryer. However, pumpkin pie is one dessert that is definitely improved by the addition of hot oil. These delicate, flaky hand pies are like biting into a cinnamon sugar doughnut with a pumpkin center.

Shopping List

Filling
1 15 oz can of pumpkin puree
2″ piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup brown sugar

Crust
dough for one 9″ pie*
8 cups of vegetable oil
1 cup cinnamon sugar (1 cup white sugar mixed with 4 tsp cinnamon)
a deep fry or candy thermometer
cooling rack
cookie sheet

*If you are using store-bought make sure you buy refrigerated dough that you unroll yourself (not already pressed into a pan).