Spinach And Butternut Witch Hat Pastries Recipe

Spooky witch hat pastries are the perfect little appetizers for your Halloween party. Stuffed with golden butternut squash, spinach, and roasted garlic, these pastries have only a few ingredients and yet a highly sophisticated flavor. Buttery, flaky layers of homemade puff pastry surround the warm and comforting filling, while black sesame seeds add a nice crunch and witchy finishing touch.

New to baking? Leah Maroney walks you through her homemade puff pastry recipe step by step, but she knows we all need a shortcut sometimes. If that's the case for you, she suggests using store-bought crescent roll dough to save time or get kids involved in this recipe.

Another party-approved perk about these witch hats is that they can be served at room temperature, which means they're ideal for prepping ahead of time. "Make the filling and the pastry ahead of time," Maroney says. "You can even assemble them in advance and store them in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before baking." We all love a make-ahead moment, especially for the holidays.

These witchy pastries are filled with roasted butternut squash and garlic — seasoned with olive oil, salt, and pepper — along with some frozen cooked spinach. To make the flaky dough, you'll need butter, an egg, sugar, flour, salt, active dry yeast, and warm water. Lastly, pick up some black sesame seeds for the finishing touch.

To make the pastry dough, add the flour, butter, sugar, and salt to the food processor. Process until small crumbs form.

Separately, add the yeast and 1 egg to ¾ cup lukewarm water. Whisk to combine.

Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture and pulse until a dough forms.

Remove the dough from the food processor and knead on a floured surface.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 F.

Add cubed butternut squash to a baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with ½ teaspoon salt and black pepper. Toss to combine.

Cut garlic in half through the top and place on a sheet of foil. Drizzle with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and ½ teaspoon salt.

Wrap garlic in foil and place on the baking sheet next to the squash. Roast for 35 minutes or until squash is tender and lightly browned.

Remove the squash from the oven and set aside. Continue roasting the garlic until completely softened, another 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, drain the frozen spinach and squeeze to remove excess water.

Combine the spinach with the butternut squash and roasted garlic, mashing everything together as you mix. Set aside.

Roll out the dough into a large sheet about ¼ inch thick.

Fold dough sheet into thirds and roll out again into a ¼ inch-thick sheet, flouring as needed to prevent sticking.

Repeat this folding and rolling process 3 more times, ending up with a ¼ inch-thick sheet.

Increase oven temperature to 425 F.

Whisk remaining egg with 1 tablespoon water.

Cut dough sheet in half and brush both pieces with egg wash.

Sprinkle both dough pieces generously with black sesame seeds until completely coated.

On 1 half of the dough, cut out 6-8 circles using a biscuit cutter.

On the other half, cut out 6-8 triangles.

Place the dough circles on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Add 2 tablespoons filling to the center of each round.

Wrap the dough triangles around the filling, closing at the top to form the cones of the witch hats.

Bake hats for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool slightly before serving.

Composed of butternut squash, spinach, roasted garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper, the filling of these witch hat pastries is vegan, but the pastry dough itself is not. However, if you use store-bought crescent roll dough and leave out the egg wash, these can easily be made vegan. Many store-bought puff pastries are actually made with oil instead of butter, making them a great substitute if you are vegan. 

Store-bought biscuit dough is similar and can also work as a vegan puff pastry substitute. Just check the ingredients list to confirm it's free of animal products. If you have a go-to pizza dough recipe (or a favorite premade version from the supermarket), this can also be used to wrap the witch hat pastries. The consistency will not be as flaky and buttery, of course, but it will still be delicious and pillowy — not to mention a little bit quicker to make.

Although these spinach and butternut witch hats are devilishly tasty on their own, everyone loves a good dip, right? Marinara sauce is a perfect pairing for these pastries. Its tangy flavor complements the sweet butternut squash and pungent roasted garlic, and it's light and dairy-free. For something more decadent, try a beer cheese dip. This creamy, savory accompaniment brings out the subtle richness of the filling and will keep people coming back for seconds. As another option, a drizzle of hot honey is a pleasantly spicy addition that accentuates the sweetness of the butternut squash. 

Finally, to add even more flavor to the pastry itself, you could use everything bagel seasoning in place of the black sesame seeds. This gives them an onion and garlic flavor that packs a nice punch. Just make sure you use a generous amount so that the hats still look more black than white.