PUMPKIN! More than Just a Jack O'Lantern (or Pie)
You can blame this post on bluestocking79. She posted a couple of pumpkin recipes and reminded me of my lurve for things pumpkin. I tried her Pumpkin Streusel Muffins and they were delish. So in turn I offer some favorites I've tried and retried in the weeks since.
There's this Farmer's Market every Saturday where I can get these wonderful pumpkin cookies. The bag lists the ingredients as: white flour, sugar, butter, egg, baking power and soda, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt. I wanted to see if I could recreate the cookies, and I found a couple of recipes like this by googling the ingredients.
The cookies came out very cake-like--exactly like those I buy nearly every week and delicious. I substituted a cup of whole wheat flour because I ran out of white and found it still tasted exactly like the ones I loved. Since a can of pumpkin puree has about two cups of pumpkin, I made another batch my aunt, who is a diabetic, could eat. I substituted whole wheat flour for the white, Splenda for the sugar, and canola oil for the butter. The cookies were denser, less smooth, not cake-like but almost biscuity--probably because they were entirely of whole wheat flour--but still good and my aunt loved them. silburygirl tried the recipe below, substituting some flax seed for the egg to make it a vegan recipe, and reported it was again delicious. ("1 tbsp flax mixed with 2 tbsp water. Whisk them together with a fork and let them sit for about ten minutes before you put them in so they can congeal a bit.") I think this recipe may be unkillable. (The cookie dough btw is pretty stiff.) The recipe linked to above uses a glaze I didn't bother with.
Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose (white) flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (preferably freshly ground)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1 cup Pumpkin Puree (about half a 15 oz can)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C). Grease baking sheets. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in medium bowl. Beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until edges are firm (in my oven it took more like 30 minutes). Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes 3 dozen cookies.
Pumpkin Curry Soup
I first tried a Pumpkin Soup recipe in SuperFoods Rx, which lists pumpkin as one of 14 foods that can greatly enhance health. The soup included a lot of ingredients--leeks, carrots, orange juice--even green apple. Not sure if I did something wrong, but what I wound up with I found inedible; my aunt described it as "too rich." So I looked online and found this much simpler recipe for Pumpkin Curry Soup and loved the result.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon cumin
3 cups fat-free, low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 15-ounce can pumpkin (2 cups pumpkin puree)
1 12-ounce can evaporated fat-free milk (silburygirl suggests vegans and lactose-intolerant might want to substitute soy, rice, or almond milk)
Freshly ground Black pepper to taste
Directions:
Heat oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until softened. Stir in curry powder and cumin and cook for 1 minute. Add broth and pumpkin. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Add evaporated fat-free milk and cook for 2 minutes. Transfer soup to a blender and blend until smooth. Serves 6.
Pumpkin-Wheat Yeast Spiced Bread
There was this delicious Pumpkin Bread I used to be able to buy at Fairway, the neighborhood cornucopia of goodness, but sadly wasn't available this year. I googled the ingredients I remembered, but only found quick bread recipes--and I don't have a bread machine. I did find a recipe for Pumpkin-Wheat Bread in Jane Brody's Good Food Gourmet--and using some other online recipes adapted it to get closer to what I remembered. Quite a success--if you ignore the broken glass loaf pan I cracked by putting it the sink right after baking. What can I say? It had been a while since I'd made bread from scratch. Speaking of which, I'd forgotten what a pain it is to make homemade bread--messy, the kneading, rising twice; took me about 5 hours. But oh there's no smell like baking bread. And the taste! My aunt loved this one too.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup warm water (105° F to 115° F - just about comfortable when you run it over your hand)
2 packages (2 scant tablespoons) active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar, divided
1 cup skim milk
3/4 cup fresh orange juice (or from concentrate--which is what I used)
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
4 1/2 to 5 1/2 cups all-purpose (white) flour, divided
2 cups pureed cooked pumpkin (One 15-ounce can)
2 cups whole-wheat flour (preferably stone-ground)
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon mace
1 and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins (preferably golden unless you're allergic)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
Directions:
Place the water in a small bowl, stir in the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar, and let the yeast stand in a warm place for 10 minutes or until it is bubbly. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the milk, orange juice, remaining sugar, salt and butter. Heat the ingredients until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl, let the mixture cool to lukewarm, then stir in the proofed yeast. Add 2 and 1/2 cups of the white flour, mixing the ingredients until they are smooth, then stir in the pumpkin, orange peel, cloves, mace and cinnamon. Add the whole-wheat flour and enough of the remaining white flour to form a dough. Spread some of the remaining white flour on a work surface, turn the dough out onto it, and knead the dough for about 10 minutes, working in additional flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking. Form the dough into a ball, place it in an oiled bowl with oiled plastic wrap, set the bowl in a warm, draft-free place, and let the dough rise for one hour or until the dough has doubled in bulk.
Punch the dough down, let it rest for 5 minutes, then return it to the work surface, and knead in the raisins and walnuts. Divide the dough into thirds, and shape each third into a loaf. Place each loaf in a greased 9 X 5-inch or 8 X 4-inch loaf pan, and let the loaves rise for 45 minutes or until they have doubled in bulk. Preheat the oven to 400° F (205° C). Place the pan in the hot oven, and bake the loaves for 35 to 40 minutes. Turn the loaves out onto a rack to cool completely.
I remember making a Pumpkin "Cheese Cake" with yogurt cheese one Thanksgiving inspired by a Pumpkin Cheese Cake sold seasonally by the Barnes & Noble Cafe in my neighborhood and counting that a success--but haven't found that old recipe I cobbled. I've seen pumpkin recipes for stews, pastas and puddings I'm tempted to try. (My family is Puerto Rican, and pumpkin, or "calabaza" is often put into stews in that cuisine--although I don't often like a lot of the traditional family recipes actually and a lot of them weren't written down and died with my grandmother.) Pumpkin is cheap, recipes using canned puree can be made all year; pumpkin is a "superfood" and very low in calories. Win win. Nom nom nom.
So give, have any recipes to share?
There's this Farmer's Market every Saturday where I can get these wonderful pumpkin cookies. The bag lists the ingredients as: white flour, sugar, butter, egg, baking power and soda, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt. I wanted to see if I could recreate the cookies, and I found a couple of recipes like this by googling the ingredients.
The cookies came out very cake-like--exactly like those I buy nearly every week and delicious. I substituted a cup of whole wheat flour because I ran out of white and found it still tasted exactly like the ones I loved. Since a can of pumpkin puree has about two cups of pumpkin, I made another batch my aunt, who is a diabetic, could eat. I substituted whole wheat flour for the white, Splenda for the sugar, and canola oil for the butter. The cookies were denser, less smooth, not cake-like but almost biscuity--probably because they were entirely of whole wheat flour--but still good and my aunt loved them. silburygirl tried the recipe below, substituting some flax seed for the egg to make it a vegan recipe, and reported it was again delicious. ("1 tbsp flax mixed with 2 tbsp water. Whisk them together with a fork and let them sit for about ten minutes before you put them in so they can congeal a bit.") I think this recipe may be unkillable. (The cookie dough btw is pretty stiff.) The recipe linked to above uses a glaze I didn't bother with.
Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose (white) flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (preferably freshly ground)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1 cup Pumpkin Puree (about half a 15 oz can)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C). Grease baking sheets. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in medium bowl. Beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until edges are firm (in my oven it took more like 30 minutes). Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes 3 dozen cookies.
Pumpkin Curry Soup
I first tried a Pumpkin Soup recipe in SuperFoods Rx, which lists pumpkin as one of 14 foods that can greatly enhance health. The soup included a lot of ingredients--leeks, carrots, orange juice--even green apple. Not sure if I did something wrong, but what I wound up with I found inedible; my aunt described it as "too rich." So I looked online and found this much simpler recipe for Pumpkin Curry Soup and loved the result.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon cumin
3 cups fat-free, low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 15-ounce can pumpkin (2 cups pumpkin puree)
1 12-ounce can evaporated fat-free milk (silburygirl suggests vegans and lactose-intolerant might want to substitute soy, rice, or almond milk)
Freshly ground Black pepper to taste
Directions:
Heat oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until softened. Stir in curry powder and cumin and cook for 1 minute. Add broth and pumpkin. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Add evaporated fat-free milk and cook for 2 minutes. Transfer soup to a blender and blend until smooth. Serves 6.
Pumpkin-Wheat Yeast Spiced Bread
There was this delicious Pumpkin Bread I used to be able to buy at Fairway, the neighborhood cornucopia of goodness, but sadly wasn't available this year. I googled the ingredients I remembered, but only found quick bread recipes--and I don't have a bread machine. I did find a recipe for Pumpkin-Wheat Bread in Jane Brody's Good Food Gourmet--and using some other online recipes adapted it to get closer to what I remembered. Quite a success--if you ignore the broken glass loaf pan I cracked by putting it the sink right after baking. What can I say? It had been a while since I'd made bread from scratch. Speaking of which, I'd forgotten what a pain it is to make homemade bread--messy, the kneading, rising twice; took me about 5 hours. But oh there's no smell like baking bread. And the taste! My aunt loved this one too.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup warm water (105° F to 115° F - just about comfortable when you run it over your hand)
2 packages (2 scant tablespoons) active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar, divided
1 cup skim milk
3/4 cup fresh orange juice (or from concentrate--which is what I used)
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
4 1/2 to 5 1/2 cups all-purpose (white) flour, divided
2 cups pureed cooked pumpkin (One 15-ounce can)
2 cups whole-wheat flour (preferably stone-ground)
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon mace
1 and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins (preferably golden unless you're allergic)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
Directions:
Place the water in a small bowl, stir in the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar, and let the yeast stand in a warm place for 10 minutes or until it is bubbly. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the milk, orange juice, remaining sugar, salt and butter. Heat the ingredients until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl, let the mixture cool to lukewarm, then stir in the proofed yeast. Add 2 and 1/2 cups of the white flour, mixing the ingredients until they are smooth, then stir in the pumpkin, orange peel, cloves, mace and cinnamon. Add the whole-wheat flour and enough of the remaining white flour to form a dough. Spread some of the remaining white flour on a work surface, turn the dough out onto it, and knead the dough for about 10 minutes, working in additional flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking. Form the dough into a ball, place it in an oiled bowl with oiled plastic wrap, set the bowl in a warm, draft-free place, and let the dough rise for one hour or until the dough has doubled in bulk.
Punch the dough down, let it rest for 5 minutes, then return it to the work surface, and knead in the raisins and walnuts. Divide the dough into thirds, and shape each third into a loaf. Place each loaf in a greased 9 X 5-inch or 8 X 4-inch loaf pan, and let the loaves rise for 45 minutes or until they have doubled in bulk. Preheat the oven to 400° F (205° C). Place the pan in the hot oven, and bake the loaves for 35 to 40 minutes. Turn the loaves out onto a rack to cool completely.
I remember making a Pumpkin "Cheese Cake" with yogurt cheese one Thanksgiving inspired by a Pumpkin Cheese Cake sold seasonally by the Barnes & Noble Cafe in my neighborhood and counting that a success--but haven't found that old recipe I cobbled. I've seen pumpkin recipes for stews, pastas and puddings I'm tempted to try. (My family is Puerto Rican, and pumpkin, or "calabaza" is often put into stews in that cuisine--although I don't often like a lot of the traditional family recipes actually and a lot of them weren't written down and died with my grandmother.) Pumpkin is cheap, recipes using canned puree can be made all year; pumpkin is a "superfood" and very low in calories. Win win. Nom nom nom.
So give, have any recipes to share?