Butternut Cranberry Delight

Just had to share this yummy, easy fall recipe. I modified it from a mailer from my real estate agent (Sendsations Power Marketing - November 2013 calendar).

Ingredients:

1.5-2 lb. butternut squash, cubed
3 baking apples, peeled, cored & cubed
~2 cups fresh/frozen cranberries

Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 T. Flour
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup chopped pecans

• Put squash in 9x13" microwave-safe pan (ungreased or use a little cooking spray). Microwave 8-10 minutes, or until squash is just slightly softened. 
• Meanwhile, mix topping ingredients in small bowl. (This is also a good time to prepare the apples, rinse cranberries and melt butter.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Stir apples and cranberries over squash, Sprinkle topping over, then drizzle butter and top with pecans. Bake about 30 minutes. 

(*Some random notes: The recipe originally calls for fewer cranberries, apples & squash. I increased slightly to use a 2# squash package - yea, Costco for having already cubed! I used most of a bag of cranberries. The original also called for baking the squash 30minutes before adding the remaining ingredients and toasting pecans on the stoptop, rather than tossing in the baking dish. I prefer the quicker, easier method...)

Mangia! (Eat!) . . . Cindy Lou Who

Acorn Macaroni and Cheese

Challenge- Make something you would normally make for your children but make it with hidden vegetables or fruit.  

 I choose to make not only my little girl's favorite, but my childhood favorite as well. I think I'm about to throw out boxed Macaroni and Cheese since making this. This idea came from mixing two recipes together plus adding and changing 3 ingredients that I have found to be essential. Enjoy!  

Fast and Easy Acorn Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients:

• 
  
  1 med Acorn Squash or up to 2 cups of pureed Acorn Squash
• 
  
  2 cups of uncooked Macaroni Pasta (More or less depending on how much sauce you like)

*For a healthier choice, I choose Whole Wheat, Semolina, or Durum Wheat Pasta.

• 
  
  1/2 cup of Chicken broth
• 
  
  (or 1/2 cup of warm water mixed with a teaspoon of Chicken Soup Base)
• 
  
  2 Tablespoons of Grape seed Oil, Unsalted Butter, or Canola oil.
• 
  
  1- 2 Tablespoons of Wheat Flour
• 
  
  1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan or Asiago Cheese (or both)
• 
  
  1/2 cup or more of additional grated cheeses (I like a mix of Sharp Cheddar and Monterey) 

* You'll find that the squash takes in the cheese flavor so you really don't need to much cheese

• 
  
  Milk- add as needed (vary much needed to make it creamy and not as thick)

Get a head start with this recipe and when the kids come home from school, you'll be able to whip of their favorite dish in the same amount of time as boxed Macaroni and Cheese. 

Bake an acorn squash, cleaned and cut in 2 halves upside down in with a few teaspoons of water in a 400 degree oven for 45 min to 1 hour. It should mash right when you touch it. Scoop it into your blender of choice and puree with Chicken Broth (up to 1/2 cup).

 10 minutes before squash is done, cook you Macaroni Pasta.

* For a healthier choice, I choose Whole Wheat, Semolina, or Durum Wheat Pasta.

  

 It should look like the texture of apple sauce when finished.

To make the roux: Mix wheat flour with oil or butter until well mixed and bubbling. Add pureed Squash mixture and Shredded cheeses.  

Add Cheese Sauce to cooked noodles and mix together. If texture is thicker than you like, add a little milk.

Other Vegetables I've tried:

Carrots
(I could really taste the carrots)

Butternut Squash
(Sweeter and nuttier)
Pumpkin
(I could really taste the pumpkin, but it seemed sweet like the Butternut Squash)

Spaghetti Squash
(Good but the texture gets stringy or very thick)
Cauliflower
(It wasn't bad)

Acorn Squash was the winner!
The acorn squash had the best flavor, creamy texture, and the squash seemed to hide better than all the others I mentioned above.

From Frozen to Fresh: Tomato Bisque

What better way to enjoy a rainy day then with a bowl of hot and savory Tomtato Bisque. The idea occured to me when my next door neighbor brought me some with a small warm loaf of bread. What a sweet thought on a cloudy day. She and I both had the opportunity to freeze a bunch of tomatoes last fall and now, she is putting them to great use by making this wonderful creation. This week was chosen to be Frozen Food Week and we challenge everyone to get something out of your freezer (that you might have been preserving or not) and make something "fresh" (meaning something new).

Terah's Homemade Tomato Bisque
4 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
2 Onions- thinly sliced
1 carrot
6 cloves of Garlic
1/2 gallon bag frozen, 3-4 lbs of fresh, or two 35 oz cans of Tomatoes
1 large Butternut squash cooked and cut up (optional)
8 large fresh Basil Leaves
Pinch of sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
4 cups of chicken broth
1/2 tsp of Allspice
2 cups of Whipping Cream

Directions:
Melt butter in large soup pot. Add onion, carrot, and garlic. Cook over medium heat. Add tomatoes
Squash (optional), basil, sugar, salt and pepper for 5 minutes. Add stock and Allspice and slowly bring to a boil. Slightly cover and simmer for 50 minutes. Puree mixture in small batches using a blender or food processor. Add pureed soup back into pot and add cream. Test for seasonings. You can make a day ahead and add cream just before serving. Makes 8-10 servings.

Pulled Pork Acorn Squash

We are getting down to the last weeks of winter. Even though I am really excited for spring, I'm still enjoying some winter delites. Winter squash is among those, you can usually buy winter squash through the spring and in some areas you can buy it year round. This dish I created a while back when I started to use my rice cooker for making other things besides rice. I love that about the rice cooker. My rice cooker makes faster meals than the oven or slow cooker and easier than my regular pressure cooker. With this recipe, I baked the acorn squash in the oven at the same time that I cook the pulled pork in my rice cooker and in one hour, I have a delicious meal.

Wash and cut your Acron squash lengthwise, then clean out seeds with a large spoon. Slice the inside of each half in a criss cross like shown above. 

I like to brush some olive oil over the squash before I bake it. Bake in a pre-heated oven set at 400 degrees for 60-75 min.

I like to use Pork Carnitas cuts because they make the best pulled pork for me every time.

You need about 2 pounds. Rub pork with Salt, Pepper, and Paprika as desired.

Rub about 2 teaspoons of olive oil on the bottom of the rice cooker.

Click your rice cooker on and brown all sides of your meat when the cooker is hot.

Then, add these ingredients for the sauce:

1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce (I use Bull's Eye)

1/2 cup of Chicken or Beef Stock

6-8 oz of apple, white grape, or pineapple juice. (I use what I have)

Cook for 60 minutes until cooked thoroughly

Shred your meat with a fork or pull it apart with your fingers. It should come apart fairly easy.

I like to serve mine with a side scoop of vanilla or plain yogurt and some orange slices. Trust me, the combination is unbelievable.

Or, if you find that the combination works for you already (like I do). Fan out your orange slices on your squash and drizzle the yogurt over top. Yummy.

There is just something about the yogurt and the BBQ sauce that makes the whole thing come together perfectly!

Toasty Pumpkin Waffles Recipe

I made these last night and they were FABULOUS!! And the maple cranberry butter was easy to make. I would only recommend that you cook each waffle for several minutes longer as they were very very moist and would have been soggy. This recipe is from Taste of Home.


Toasty Pumpkin Waffles Recipe

“When I really want to impress folks, I serve these waffles. They’re beautiful with a fresh sprig of mint atop the sweet butter. It was my most requested recipe when I owned a bed and breakfast.” —Brenda Ryan, Marshall, Missouri

4 Servings Prep/Total Time: 30 min.



Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1-1/4 cups milk
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
4-1/2 teaspoons butter, melted
1/3 cup chopped pecans



MAPLE CRANBERRY BUTTER:
1/2 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup butter, softened
Additional maple syrup, optional


Directions
In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk the egg, milk, pumpkin and butter; stir into dry ingredients until blended. Fold in pecans.
Bake in a preheated waffle iron according to manufacturer’s directions until golden brown.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine cranberries and syrup. Cook over medium heat until berries pop, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl; cool slightly. Beat in butter until blended.
Serve waffles with maple cranberry butter and syrup if desired. Refrigerate or freeze leftover butter. Yield: 4 servings (1 cup butter).
 

Nutrition Facts: 2 waffles with 1 tablespoon maple cranberry butter (calculated without additional syrup) equals 392 calories, 23 g fat (10 g saturated fat), 92 mg cholesterol, 284 mg sodium, 39 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 9 g protein.
Toasty Pumpkin Waffles published in Taste of Home October/November 2008, p43

Traditional Pumpkin Bread

Photos by Madeline L.

Here is a traditional bread that I make for our neighbors and our family during Christmas. I got it from a very old cookbook that I have had since the 70's and since then has had all kinds of acidents cross its path by means of wear and tear. But, it still has some great recipes and worth holding on to. I hope all of you enjoy this one.

Pumpkin Bread:

2 cups of pumpkin                                         2 cups of sugar
2/3 c up of butter or margarine softened        1/2 cup of water
3 eggs                                                          2 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda                                         1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon                                             1/2 tsp cloves
2/3 c dates or rasins (optional)                      2/3 cups of chopped nuts

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease (not oil) bottom of two 8x4 or 9x5 loaf pans. In large bowl combine pumpkin, sugar, butter, water and eggs. Beat 1 minute at medium speed. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup, level off. Add flour, soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves. Beat 1 minute at medium speed. Stir in dates and nuts. Pour into prepared pans. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 5 minutes; remove and cool completely.

Winter Squash Meets Harvest Lasagna

Whenever I can, I love to add fruits and veggies to my meals, ecspecially being married to a picky eater who doesn' have much of an opinion of vegetables. Among pastas and pizzas, Lasagna's are the most requested from my husband. The nice thing about making lasagnas is that you can throw almost any kind of veggie into this delightful chessy cuisine, making it your own special creation. I actually like to think of it as a harvet lasagna so to speak. My typical harvest lasagna consists of Carrots, Zucchini, Spinach, and Tomatoes for the veggies of choice. Since I'm storing so much squash this year, I decided to add some cooked Butternut squash to my Ricotta Cheese mixture in my Harvest Lasagna. The result was fabulous. Who knew vegetables could taste so good!

Recipe for my Harvest Lasagna with Winter Squash

Ingredients:

Whole Wheat Lasagna Noodles (9)

2 cups of Ricotta Cheese

1 Egg (slightly beaten)

1/2 cup Parmasean Cheese

2 Teaspoons Oregano

2 Teaspoons of Parsley

1 Teaspoon Minced Garlic

1 Teaspoon Dill Weed

Olive Oil

Sharp Chedder Cheese

Mozarella Cheese

Favorite Spaghetti Sauce or Seasoned Tomato Sauce

(I actually like to use 1 can of diced Italian Tomatoes and 1 jar of Spaghetti sauce)

Veggies of Choice (use any and all):

Butternut, Acorn, or other favorite winter squash

Zucchini

Carrots

Spinach

Asparagus

 Broccoli

Directions:

Layer # 1 Cheese Mixture:

Cook Squash as desired. While cooking, mix Ricotta Cheese, seasonings, and egg together. Spoon out cooked squash and mix with a little butter to make it creamy. Stir into Cheese mixture.

Layer # 2- Lasagna Noodles:
Cook Lasagna noodles by boiling until almost tender (don't over cook).

Layer # 3- Veggies with Sauce:
Thinly Slice all Veggies and saute together with Olive Oil an minced garlic (just so they are slightly cooked). (You can also blanch or steam them). Put partially cooked veggies in a sauce pan and add (can of diced tomatoes) Tomato or Spaghetti Sauce. Simmer until ready to layer in lasagna.

Assembly:
In a Deep Dish Baking Pan, pour a little Veggie mix along the bottom of pan, followed by these layers:
3 Noodles, Cheese mix, Veggie Mix, 3 Noodles, Cheese Mix,Veggie Mix, 3 Noodles, Cheese Mix and thenVeggie Mix. Top with Shredded cheeses (sharp chedder and Mozarella). You can also put some shredded cheese in between layers for a cheesier lasagna.

To Cook:
Cover with tin foil, bake in a pre-heated oven set @ 350 for 1 hour and then uncover and cook for an additional 15-20 mintues. Let it cool for at least 5- 10 minutes.

The End of the Pumpkin Challange

Well, this is my last pumpkin recipe post for this month's challenge. Over the next month, we will be having weekly challenges as our menus will probably change quite often. Since we haven't had my turkey yet, we will be announcing the next cook off challenge right after Thanksgiving. Speaking to our authors out there, you can still continue to post pumpkin recipes if you want to.

Here is one of my favorite recipes that is perfect for Thanksgiving

Pumpkin Maple Cheesecake with Caramel Sauce

from the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
1 (14 oz.) can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin (2 cups)
3 large eggs
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

PREHEAT oven to 325°F. Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter; press firmly on bottom of 9-inch springform pan.


In large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in EAGLE BRAND® until smooth. Add pumpkin, eggs, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; mix well. Pour into prepared pan.

BAKE 1 hour and 15 minutes or until center appears nearly set when shaken. Cool 1 hour. Cover and chill at least 4 hours.

*Pour your favorite caramel topping over top. This is also delicious with pecans!

Butternut Squash and Pumpkin Soup

 

Well, I mentioned I had a couple of more recipes that had pumpkin in them. Of course, I have a few more recipes to share without pumpkin too. It just seems like I can't get enough of this stuff this time of year. A few things that catch my attention when it comes to pumpkin, are soups. These last two weeks, I've had the opportunity to learn the traditional ways to create a foundation for soup and  I was so surprised when I realized that making soups are so basic and low key. I think that apart from pastas, they are one of my favorite things to create, and after learning more about them, I think that it has increase even more. This particular soup, I came up with a couple of years ago and since then, have changed it over and over again. It has now become a simply creamy and lightly sweetened creation that I think brings out the best of both worlds.  It is also gluten Free.

I happen to have a lot of butternut squash in my food storage right now and it should last the whole winter. But, if it looks like I can't use it, I will probably freeze or can some. My friend Kari grows an abundance of squash and other vegetables that she was so willing to share. She gave me a few different types of squash this year including my favorites, Butternut and Spaghetti.  Butternut squash is among the most popular of the squashes. I have used it for baby food, casseroles, pies, soups, etc. If it has squash in it, I usually go for this kind. It is easy to cook and prepare with hardly any messy clean up.

 

TO COOK YOUR BUTTERNUT SQUASH:

 

You can cook your squash anyway you preffer. But, I have to say that baking it, is the best.

1. Wash your squash on the outside (to rid it of dirt)
2. Cut into two halfs (length wise)
3. Carve out small portion of seeds and strands
4. place on a cookie sheet with about a 1/2 cup of water
5. Bake in a pre-heated oven set @ 350 for 45 min to 1 hour

Your squash should be soft and easily removable from its skin when it is done.

 

 

 

My Butternut Squash Pumpkin Soup

 by Madeline L.

 

1 large cooked butternut squash

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp table salt

2 Tbsp melted butter

12 oz Evaporated milk

2 Tbsp apricot preserves

up to a 1/4 cup Potato Flakes

(to thicken if needed)

36 oz water

(you can also use a can of chicken or vegetable stock for part of this liquid)

 

Directions: You can do one of two easy ways:

 

Put all ingredients in a large pot and puree with Immersion Blender and heat until soup begins to bubble.

 

Put Pumpkin, squash, milk, water (or half water), and apricot preserves, in blender and then heat over stove and add remaining ingredients. Heat until soup begins to bubble.

 

*As you can see, I am measured out this recipe so, I didn't have to give estimates (even though these really are estimates ;)

Pumpkin Molasses Cookies

• 2 1/3 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 8 Tbs butter, room temperature
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup sugar, for rolling

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Working with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the brown sugar, molasses, and pumpkin puree and beat for 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the egg and beat for 1 minute more. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing until the flour and spices disappear. If flour remains in the bottom of the bowl, mix the last of the dry ingredients by hand to avoid over beating. You will have a very soft dough.

Divide the dough in half and wrap each piece in plastic wrap. Freeze for at least 30 minutes, or refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Put the sugar in a small bowl. Working with one packet of dough at a time, divide it into 12 pieces, and roll each piece into a ball. Roll the balls in the sugar and use a the bottom of a glass to press down on the cookies until they are between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick. Transfer to cookie sheets. Do not over crowd.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12-14 minutes, or until the top feels set to the touch. Remove baking sheets from the oven. Let cookies cool 5 minutes on the sheets before transferringthem to a cooling rack.

Repeat with second batch of dough.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes

First, I want to say thanks for all of your pumpkin recipes. Keep them coming this month. A good collection of pumpkin recipes bring variety that will come in handy year after year. In fact, we have two cook off challenges in both November and December so, the challenge will be changing right after Thanksgiving.

I have a couple more pumpkin recipes to put on here after this one, so I hope that they are not becoming a blur yet. This recipe, my whole wheat pumpkin pancakes, are certainly something to share. They are truely a piece of cake in both preparation and the fact that they melt in your mouth. During the summer, I never seemed to have time for breakfast (well, a good sit down anyway). But, as the seasons change and the climate gets colder,  I can't seem to start my day without sitting down and enjoying my breakfast. Maybe that's whay I think my whole wheat pumpkin pancakes give me one good reason to see what this season brings.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes

by Madeline L.

Sift these Ingredients together in a medium bowl:

1 cup of whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 heaping teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 Tablespoons of Pumpkin Pie Spice

In a small bowl:

Beat together 2 egg whites

In large bowl mix together:

1 cup of Pumpkin puree

2 egg yokes

1/4 cup of cooking oil

1-2 cups of Sour milk

(Mix 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice to 2 cups of milk and let it stand for 5 minutes)

Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture, mix, and then fold in egg whites.

Cooking Instructions: Cook like you would normal pancakes except this batter is a little thicker so, you will need to spread the batter a little with a spoon and cook these a little longer on the griddle (set at 400-450 degrees) or frying pan.
Use your best judgment as they might not bubble up as much like most packcakes do.

I like to put semi-sweet chocolate chips in or on these hotcakes.

Pumpkin Bread with a twist

I love pumpkin bread so decided this season I would work on making a slightly healthier version than most recipes. So here is what I came up with:

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup water
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup flax meal
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Optional ingredients dried cranberries or walnuts.
• Makes 2 loaf pans
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 7x3 inch loaf pans.
• In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, flax meal, baking soda, and cinnamon.
• Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
• Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
• 
  

Hope Y'All Aren't Sick of Pumpkins Yet!

Hi, everyone! My name is Heather. I also go by Heathie, particularly with the younger crowd--4- and 5-year-olds who can't pronounce their 'R' sounds. I'm glad to be part of this blog because I need to start cooking better! My husband is incredibly picky. Basically if it has sauce or vegetables, he won't eat it. Thus, a lot of my posts will be foods for picky eaters (except for the days he's not home; those days, we eat well. Hee hee!).

I know Madeline already did a recipe for Pumpkin Muffins. I totally forgot about it last night when I was looking for a pumpkin muffin recipe, and I think it would have been more what I was looking for than the one I came up with. So I'll probably use it next time. The following recipe, though, is one I tweaked to try to make it more "healthy." I used some honey, but ran out so I also used some brown sugar. I like it better in pumpkin things than white sugar. But honestly, sugar is sugar and it all surges through the blood stream the same way. Without further ado, here is my version of Pumpkin Muffins:

In a large bowl, combine
1 1/3 C Pumpkin Puree
1/2 C Brown Sugar
1/2 C Honey
2 Eggs
1/2 + 1/8 C oil (I'm no good at fractions, so I didn't bother consolidating those amounts into one number...)

The resulting sludge will look something like this.

In a smaller bowl combine

1 1/2 C Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Ground Cloves

1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg

1/8 tsp Ground Ginger

Add the dry mixture to the wet, and mix well.

Recipe fills 12 regular size muffin cups almost completely.

Bake at 400 F for 16-20 minutes.

I was actually looking to make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins, but half way through realized I was out of chocolate chips. These muffins aren't really chewy-gooey enough for chocolate chips anyway. But I think they make a good breakfast muffin to be enjoyed with scrambled eggs and fruit, which is just what we had for breakfast this morning!

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds with Sugar and Spice

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds with Sugar and Spice



Ingredients
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds, rinsed and dried
6 tablespoons white sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 tablespoon vegetable oil





Directions
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Spread pumpkin seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet. Toast for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until dry and toasted. Larger seeds may take longer.
In a large bowl, stir together 2 tablespoons of white sugar, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pumpkin seeds and sprinkle the remaining sugar over them. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar melts, about 45 seconds. Pour seeds into the bowl with the spiced sugar and stir until coated. Allow to cool before serving. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

I got this recipe on all recipes. And it is fabulously addicting!

Easy Peasy Pumpkin Cookies

These are the best cookies ever. Once fall hits I bring them everywhere. They are not pretty cookies but soooo yummy.

Ingredients:
1 box spice cake mix
1 16 oz can canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
Some chocolate chips or nuts, whatever you want

Mix, shape into cookies, bake 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees. And voila! So good.

If you want to double it use 2 cake mixes and the big (29oz) can of pumpkin.

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

If you haven't noticed already I love adding vegetable purees to dishes, and pumpkin I must say is one of my favorites.

Batter:

1 cup brown sugar

4 T trans-fat-free margarine

1 cup lowfat or nonfat milk

1 cup sour cream

1 large egg

2 t vanilla extract

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2 t baking powder

1/2 t cinnamon

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup mini marshmallows

Topping:

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 t cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts ( I omit this part because my 4 year old has nut allergies)

Preheat over to 350F. Coat 8x8 inch pan with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the sugar and margarine until creamy. Beat in milk, the sour cream, egg, and vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and mix until completely incorporated.

Pour half the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Spread the pumpki

n puree over the batter and sprinkle with marshmallows. Spread rest of the batter evenly over the pumpkin filling.

Mix together the topping ingredients and sprinkle evenly over the batter. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake, 55 to 60 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before cutting. Enjoy!!

Going into the oven.

Pumpkin Roll

A while back I conducted a food survey for a cooking class I was attending. I asked people (at random) all over, what food item do they relate to Fall. As you migh have guessed, most people said pumpkin (well, more specifically pumpkin pie). This particular vegetable, that is a member of the squash family, has its varieties for dishes. Dessert varieties seem to rank high when you look at popularity choices. But,  pumpkin has become a great ingredient in many dishes.

*

 I have never made a pumpkin roll, but enjoy them immensely. This recipe if from a friend of my mother.  Although, most pumpkin rolls contain pretty much the same ingredients, I am just happy to have a recipe made by someone I know.   

Ingredients for Pumpkin Roll:

Cream Cheese Filling-
6 oz. softened Cream Cheese
1 cups Powdered Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla
4 T of softened Butter

Pumpkin Batter-
3 eggs
1 Cup Sugar
2/3 cup of pumpkin
1 tsp lemon juice
3/4 cup of flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup of nuts (optional)

Beat eggs and add sugar gradually. Mix in pumpkin and lemon juice. In a separate bowl, mix together: flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Fold into pumpkin mixture. Pour into a greased and floured jelly roll pan (cookie sheet). Sprinkle with nuts at this time.

Bake for 15 min @ 375 degrees. At this time you can prepare the cream cheese mixture by combining all ingredients needed and mix until smooth.

While still hot, remove the thin pumpkin bread from pan. Place on a towel sprinkled with powdered sugar and roll the bread . Cool. After cooled, unroll and spread cream cheese mixture evenly all over.

Roll up again but, this time without the towel.

Put into the fridge until ready to serve. Cut into slices and enjoy.