Jack o' lantern hand pies with pumpkin date filling

Name: Jack o' lantern hand pies with pumpkin date filling
Prep time: 12 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 27 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: En
Ingredients: 1 package pie dough for a double crust; 1 1/3 cups roasted or canned pumpkin puree; 5 large whole fresh Medjool dates, pitted and chopped; ½ cup granulated sugar; ½ cup dark brown sugar; 1/8 teaspoon salt; ¼ cup regular cream cheese, softened and slightly warm (fat free will not work); 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice; ½ teaspoon ground ginger; ½ teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 egg, beaten together for egg wash; Raw sugar for sprinkling

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Appetizer

Very Easy

27 min

Preparation

Preparation12 min

Cook time15 min

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a food processor puree the dates and granulated sugar together until mainly smooth.
Add the dark brown sugar, salt, cream cheese, pumpkin pie spice, ginger, and vanilla extract and puree until smooth. Scrap down the sides as needed. Set aside.
Gently roll out the pie dough just until smooth between two pieces of wax paper. Make 7 cuts with the pumpkin cutter outline very close together going around the pie dough in a circle, and then an 8th cut right in the middle. Take the stencil part of the cutter, and press faces into 4 pumpkins. Repeat with second dough.
Place the pumpkins without faces on the cookie sheet. Brush the edges lightly with egg wash. Take 1 ½ to 2 teaspoons of filling and spread it around the pumpkin leaving the edges clear. Too much filling will ooze out so be careful here.
Press the faces gently on top of the puree and seal the edges with your fingers. Brush lightly with egg wash and sprinkle with a little raw sugar.
Bake for 15 minutes on the middle rack. Serve warm or cold.