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Before you begin you will need: 5 5inch tart or pie tins, food safe brush, parchment paper, wax paper, toothpicks, 2 inch leaf or fall design cookie/pie stamps, sharp kitchen knife, 1 piece card stock paper, piping bag fitted with standard coupler, small round piping tips (I used #2 & 10). The cookies and pie filling can be made the day before baking the pies for best results.
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Place 1/4 cup of the all purpose flour and the crystallized ginger in either a food processor or blender, and process until the ginger is finely chopped. Transfer the flour/ginger mixture to a medium size mixing bowl, and whisk together with the rest of the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices. Set aside.
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In a large mixing bowl beat together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and molasses.
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Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the wet just until combined (being careful not to overmix).
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Divide the dough into 2 disks, and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
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Once the dough is properly chilled, preheat the oven to 35o degrees. Roll 1 disk out to 1/8 inch thick between 2 pieces of parchment paper. Use the cookie stamps to cut out as many shapes as you can. You may need to dip the stamps into a little flour every so often to keep them from sticking to the dough. Transfer the cutouts to a parchment lined baking sheet, placing them about 2 inches apart. Transfer the baking sheet to the freezer for 10 minutes.
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In a small bowl stir together the honey and water. Use a food safe brush to brush the honey onto the top of each cookie and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.
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Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the pan before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. You can continue to roll out the extra dough scraps, between the parchment paper, and cut them out until all of the first disk of dough is used up. Just make sure to chill and sprinkle with sugar before baking, as you did with the first batch.
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Roll out the second disk of dough just like the first. Cut two elongated triangles, for ears, out of the card stock paper, and place them on top of the dough. Use the knife to carefully cut 5 sets of ears out of the dough. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet. Cut shapes out of the rest of the dough. Chill and bake as you did previously.
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To make the pie filling, in a medium mixing bowl whisk together the spices, salt, and sugar. In a small mixing bowl beat tougher the pumpkin, eggs, and cream. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry. Cover and refrigerate.
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Once the cookies are fully cooled it's time to make the crust! Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Transfer about 35-40 cookies to a food processor, and process until you have a sand like texture. Place the crumbs in a medium bow, and stir them together with the melted butter.
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Divide the crust evenly among the pie tins (about 4-5 tablespoons each), and firmly press the crust into the bottom and up the sides of each. Transfer the pie tins to a baking sheet, and bake for 5-8 minutes or just until they begin to brown.
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Allow the pie crusts to cool for at least 15 minutes before adding the filling. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the sides of the pie are set and the filling is still slightly jiggly.
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Transfer the pies to a cooling rack to cool for 2 hours, then transfer to the refrigerator to cool for 1 more hour.
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While the pies are chilling we can prep the decorations starting with the cinnamon whipped cream. Place a mixing bowl and whisk attachment into the freezer for 15 minutes.
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Add cold cream, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon to the chilled bowl and beat starting on low speed and slowly working your way up to high until stiff peeks form (about 5-7 minutes). Cover and transfer to the refrigerator.
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To make the chocolate details, place the chocolate chips and coconut oil in a heatproof bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals (at 50% power), stirring between each interval, until smooth and melted.
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Use a toothpick dipped into the melted chocolate to draw the sleepy eyes and oval noses onto wax paper. You can also draw the face design first and place the drawing under the wax paper as a guide. Allow to set.
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Decorate just before serving. Transfer the whipped cream to a piping bag fitted with your larger round tip (I used the #10 for this). Use a toothpick to draw where you want to pipe the whipped cream onto each pie. Fill in the areas, and use the back of a spoon to slightly smooth out the whipped cream. Change out the piping tip to the smaller size (I used #2), and press and release on the sides of each cheek to create the whiskers.
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Add the chocolate pieces, cookies ears, and any other cookies for decorations that you would like to each pie. I used a star tip to create some whipped cream swirls, and then topped with the leaf and pumpkin cookies. Enjoy! The pies will keep for 3-4 days covered and refrigerated, and for 1 month frozen. There will be extra cookies, I like to serve the pies along with a plate full of the cookies to enjoy with coffee. You can also freeze them to eat later.
