Storm of Thoughts

Pumpkin Extravaganza

I can’t avoid pumpkins lately; not that I would want to. This weekend, I went to a pumpkin festival and a pumpkin patch, ate pumpkin pie, and put up some new fall decorations. Pumpkins are, of course, the epitome of fall, which is why everything in October is so full of them. And anything seasonal carries with it a certain magic - you need to pick out, collect, carve, decorate, admire, cook, bake, and eat your pumpkins before they disappear again as suddenly as they showed up. Which is why I’ve decided to share some really delicious pumpkin recipes that my family has been collecting over the years (along with a few pumpkin pictures). Hope they put you in even more of a fall mood too.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups flour
6 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
½ cup milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
¼ cup melted butter
½ cup gold raisins (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Combine all dry ingredients and blend well. Beat the eggs with the milk, pumpkin, and butter, then stir into the dry ingredients. Blend until just moist, then stir in raisins. Spoon into buttered muffin tins (this recipe makes 12 muffins). Bake 15-20 minutes.

(Can serve with butter that has been softened and mixed with cinnamon and sugar.)

Pumpkin Scones

Ingredients:

½ cup sugar
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons butter
1 egg
½ cup pumpkin puree
¼ cup sour cream
½ teaspoon ginger (or grated fresh ginger) or 2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger (optional)

Preheat oven to 425. Put aside 1 tablespoon of sugar and add the rest with the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in 4 tablespoons of the butter with a pastry blender or your hands until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg. Add to this the pumpkin, sour cream, and ginger (if using). Beat until well blended, then add to the flour mixture and stir until a soft dough forms.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead about 10 times. Roll the dough out into a 9” x 6” rectangle. Cut out 6 squares (approximately 3 inches each) with a floured knife, and then cut each square in half.

Place each triangle 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Melt the remaining butter and brush on top of the dough before sprinkling with the remaining sugar.

Cook for about 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown.

Pumpkin Biscotti

Note: Biscotti dough isn’t generally the easiest to work with, but it is always so worth it!

Ingredients:

3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
½ cup mashed canned pumpkin
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter
1 ¼ cup macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl and stir well. In another bowl, stir pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla together with a whisk. Slowly add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture, stirring until moistened. (Mixture will be very crumbly, but becomes moist after stirring.) Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the nuts and cook, stirring constantly, until browned. Remove from heat and cool, then gently stir into the dough. Place the dough on a floured surface and divide into four portions. Flour hands and shape each piece into a 1” x 15” log. Place logs 3” apart on lightly greased cookie sheets and bake for 23 minutes. Allow logs to cool for 15 minutes. In the meantime, reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees and cut each log (diagonally) into slices about ½” thick, using a serrated knife. Place slices flat on ungreased cookie sheets and bake for an additional 15 minutes. (You can turn them over halfway through.) Cool completely on wire racks.

Pumpkin Bars

Ingredients:

For cake:

4 eggs
1 2/3 cup sugar
1 cup cooking oil
1 16oz can pumpkin
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt

For icing:

1 3oz cream cheese
1 stick butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat together eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and mix thoroughly. Spread the batter in an ungreased 15” x 10” x 1” pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes and cool before frosting.

Icing: Cream together cream cheese and butter. Stir in vanilla and then add sugar a little at a time, beating until mixture is smooth. Frost cake and sprinkle with chopped nuts if desired.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Wordless Wednesday: Seeing Orange

These are from the Life is Good pumpkin festival which, unfortunately, no longer seems to come to Boston. I’ll miss it this year, but it still makes me happy it’s October.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!