Dried leaves tap across the ground in a waltz with the wind. Each evening, the night sky greets us a little earlier. Pumpkins, large and small, are collected from the local pumpkin patch or harvested from your own backyard garden. Carved into Jack-o-lanterns to light the Halloween night or decorating the house, pumpkins are the lingering burst of color in the otherwise neutral world of fall. Each day is cooler than the last, and the oven warms the house, filling the air with the sweet spices of baking treats.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Cut one small pumpkin in half and place it on a baking sheet. Cover with foil. Bake for 50 minutes.

Let cool, then separate the soft inside from the skin. Place in a blender or bowl if you are using a hand blender.

Add ½ cup of brown sugar

1 tsp of ground cinnamon

¼ tsp of ground allspice

¼ tsp of ground cloves

¼ tsp of nutmeg

1 tsp of ground ginger

½ cup of heavy whipping cream

2 eggs

Blend together until the filling has a smooth consistency.

Mix in 1 cup or the desired amount of chocolate chips.

Let the mixture cool in the fridge for an hour.

You can use this filling with any crust for any pastry you desire. I chose to use puff pastry and make little hand-held pies. I baked the pies at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

You may enjoy them fresh out of the oven or nice and cool.

This was written by our contributing writer, Karina Coghlan.