Serving up a smile!

From the recipe author: You don't need to be a master baker to make these easy pumpkin pies. Blend the ingredients, pour, and bake: it's as simple as that. Filled with Nellie's Free Range Eggs, pumpkin purée, and dates, it's sweet as can be without any overly refined sugar. Top your mini or full-size pie with a jack o' lantern face for a festive twist!

Directions

1. Position the rack in the middle of your oven and preheat to 400F.
2. If using two mini 6" pie pans, cut the pie dough to fit. Line both pans or one standard pie pan with dough. Cover with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans, then parbake for 10 minutes. Reserve the dough scraps to make the jack 'o lantern decoration later on.
3. While the pie is parbaking, blend the pumpkin purée, 3 eggs, 1 egg yolk (set aside the white), dates, heavy cream, maple syrup, vanilla extract, ginger, cinnamon, and salt in a high-speed blender.
4. Once parbaked, remove pie shells from oven and let cool down a bit before pouring the filling into the shells. Reduce the oven temperature to 325F and bake for 40 minutes, or until filling is set but still slightly jiggly in the center.
5. Let pie cool on baking rack for 2 hours. Pie will continue to cook while cooling.
6. To make the jack 'o lantern decorations, roll out the reserved dough scraps on a piece of parchment paper. Place the paper and dough on a baking sheet and refrigerate for 10 minutes to chill. Cut out jack 'o lantern faces using a small knife. Make an egg wash by whisking the leftover egg white and a tablespoon of milk. Brush egg wash on top of the jack 'o lantern cut outs, then bake for about 8 minutes at 425F. Let cool before adding to the top of your pie, and be sure to let the entire pie cool before slicing and serving.