Pumpkin Pastries

I love the world of Harry Potter. It's one of the few books I can read over and over again. Since the next to last movie is coming out next month, I figured I'd better re-read the series so I remember what was going on. On his first trip on the Hogwart's Express, Harry buys something called Pumpkin Pastries from the witch's snack cart. I never really gave it much thought until I came across this recipe from Jenny. I firmly believe that these are the snacks they serve on the train to Hogwarts.

Mix together pumpkin, eggs, cream, sugar and spices.

Use a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter to cut out your puff pastry. You could just use circles if you really wanted to, but aren't these cute? Then brush the shapes with melted butter. Yes, that is a regular paintbrush I got at the hardward store.
Sprinkle these with your favorite cinnamon/sugar ratio. Notice I put these on parchment paper. I am becoming a huge fan of parchment paper.
Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the pumpkin mixture onto the pastry. Spread this out so it is close to the edge, but not too close, about a quarter of an inch away should be fine.
Bake these for about 25 minutes. Jenny also drizzled hers with some melted chocolate, but ours didn't last long enough to get to that point.

These are so good, I can't even begin to describe it. It's like pumpkin pie, only better, which for me, is really something. They are incredible right out of the oven. I didn't get the chance to try this, but I think they would be really good right out of the fridge, too.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Pumpkin Pastries

1 Cup canned pumpkin
1/4 Cup granulated sugar
1/4 Cup heavy whipping cream
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
4 sheets (2 boxes) of puff pastry, thawed
3 Tablespoons melted butter
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
Melted chocolate for drizzling (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl mix the pumpkin, sugar, heavy cream, egg, cinnamon and nutmeg until creamy and well combined.
Place puff pastry onto a lightly floured countertop and cut out 4 pumpkins per sheet of pastry. Place pumpkin cut outs onto silpat or parchment lined baking sheets. Brush each pumpkin lightly with butter then sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Spoon about 2 Tablespoons of pumpkin pie filling around center of pumpkins leaving 1/4 inch border around edges.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until puff pastry is golden brown on the edges and pumpkin pie is cooked through. Let cool for 10 minutes on baking sheet then transfer to cooling rack. Serve room temperature or chilled. Drizzle with melted chocolate if desired before serving.
16 pumpkin pie tarts

Sausage and Mushroom Pumpkin Soup

It's that time of year again. Pumpkin Time. I am content.

Did you know that in other parts of the world, pumpkins are seen as vegetables? Can you imagine a world where pumpkin pie is considered weird? Not me. But then I live in a world where pumpkin soup is considered strange.

Well, my world view has shifted. I have branched out into the realm of savory pumpkin.

Start out by browning a pound of your favorite sausage. I used mild pork sausage. Add in some chopped yellow onion, minced garlic and sliced mushrooms.

Saute this down until the mushrooms and onions are tender. Add in your pumpkin. Now, of course, you can use canned pumpkin, but I believe I have made my views on this known. I used 2 cups of pumpkin puree.
Mix this well and stir in chicken broth and a small can of tomato paste. Also add in a tablespoon of your favorite Italian seasoning. The only kind my grocery store had was McCormick's. This came in a bottle with a grinder just like pepper comes in. I highly recommend this kind. Let this simmer for about 25 minutes.
Add in a half cup each of water and heavy cream and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Serve this with some hot breadsticks.
Oh my. Oh my, my. I didn't make enough of this. My picky nephew was with us for supper again and he went back for thirds. This is definitely become one of my all-time favorites.

Even if you have never considered adding pumpkin to your supper line up, you MUST try this.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Sausage and Mushroom Pumpkin Soup
12 oz sausage
1 garlic clove, minced
½ cup yellow onion, minced
½ cup heavy cream
15 oz can pumpkin
1 tablespoon tomato paste
½ cup water
4 cups chicken broth
½ cup fresh mushrooms, chopped
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Brown the sausage, drain the fat, and then add the Italian seasoning, mushrooms, garlic, and onion. Sauté until tender.
Add the pumpkin and combine everything well.
Stir in the broth and tomato paste, and then simmer the soup for about 25 minutes.
Stir in the water and cream and simmer for 10 minutes more.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Okay, one more pumpkin recipe and I will move on. I found these in my Google Reader a week or so ago and knew I had to try them. I couldn't locate where I got the recipe, and a quick search did not turn up a blog that sounded familiar. As near as I can tell they seem to have originated with Martha Stewart. Figures. These look like something she would invent. Don't take that the wrong way. I love Martha.

I almost didn't make these, cute as they are, because the ingredients list is such that for anything but pumpkin and spice, I wouldn't even have considered it. Typically, the shorter the list, the more likely the recipe will make it into my box.

But I did try them.

And now we are all happy here.

Start with the spices and flour in a medium sized mixing bowl.
Let The Boy whisk this all together, even though you told him he had to get dressed first. Less laundry, you know.
While he is doing that, combine the brown sugar and oil in a large mixing bowl. The recipe calls for dark brown sugar. You could substitute light brown if that is all you have. I actually have dark in my cabinet because that is what is needed to make butterscotch pudding. I'll let you know how that turns out. I also substituted half of the oil with applesauce. Then add in the pumpkin puree.
Whisk that together and add in vanilla and an egg.
Mix well and add the flour mixture.
Use a small ice cream scoop to spoon the cookies onto a baking sheet. You can use a 1/8 measuring cup in place of the scoop if you don't have one. If you don't have one, put it on your Christmas list. Or just go buy one. These are great not only for projects like this, but you can actually use it to scoop out ice cream. My kids love having tiny little ice cream scoops in their bowl. It might even force you to moderate your ice cream intake. Not in my house, you understand, buy you might have more willpower than I do.
Bake these at 350 for about 15 minutes. I wasn't sure how far apart to space the scoops since I didn't know how much they would spread out. Now I know. They do not spread out. They turn out to be very thick cookies. Mmmm...
While these are cooling, start mixing up the frosting by creaming the butter and cream cheese.

Add in powdered sugar and vanilla and cinnamon.
I love the addition of cinnamon to this...
Use a regular table spoon to dollop the filling onto the flat side of an upside down cookie. Do this fast, because children will come out of nowhere to sneak tastes of this stuff.
Top with another cookie. Odd number of cookies? No problem. You can use the extra cookie to scoop out the scraps in the filling bowl.
You are supposed to refrigerate these for 30 minutes before serving. I tried. A good number of them did not make it that far.

These are good. Really good. I need to go make another batch right now.

Even though I loved this version, I have also located a filling made with whipping cream. I must try that.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
3 c all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground cloves
2 c packed dark-brown sugar
1 c vegetable oil
3 c pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Vanilla Bean Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling
3 c powdered sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, applesauce and oil until combined. Add the chilled pumpkin puree and whisk until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined. Add the flour mixture over pumpkin mixture and whisk until fully incorporated. Using a small ice cream scoop, drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Transfer to oven and bake until cookies are set, about 15 minutes.

Sift the powdered sugar into a medium bowl; set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, beat butter until smooth. Add the cream cheese and beat until well combined. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and cinnamon; beat until smooth.

Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. When the cookies have cooled completely, spoon a large dollop of filling on the flat side of half of the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edge of the cookies. Refrigerate cookies at least 30 minutes before serving and up to 3 days.

Hot Pumpkin Chocolate

I'm not sure where fall went. When I was forcing teenagers out the door to go run, it was 40 degrees. Now it is 70. I am pretty sure the calendar says November, but I am not buying it. Last night brought thunderstorms and lost power to my area, and it did cool off a little bit. But not enough for me.

In hopes of (or in spite of) a cooler evening, I tried a recipe that has been sitting on my list for quite some time. Actually, this is a heavily modified version of a Pumpkin Latte I found in a now missing check-out aisle cookbook. Have I mentioned my addiction to those??

Anyway, I don't drink coffee. Don't even remotely like coffee. Cannot choke it down. I have never understood how something that smells so incredibly good can taste so bad.

But somehow, the Pumpkin Latte kept calling to me. It looked (and even sounded) really, really good. But I knew the coffee would make me hate it. So, like any other sane person, I figured I would substitute hot cocoa for the coffee. Turns out, this was a great idea...

Take 2 tablespoons of pumpkin puree and add it to 2 cups of milk into your Cocomotion. I have mentioned how hot chocolate drinkers NEED one of these. Seriously. If need be, however, you can also put the ingredients into a heavy saucepan.
Add in 1 tablespoon cocoa, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice blend and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Press the "on" button and wait patiently. If your ingredients are in a saucepan, cook on medium heat until hot and stir until mixed.
Add a dollop of whipped cream and enjoy.
This is huge. Two of my favorite ingredients come together at my favorite time of year. The Girl enthusiastically chugged her cup and I had to make some more.

I also went ahead and froze little 2 tablespoon servings of pumpkin puree. Fill up an ice cube tray and freeze overnight. In the morning, put them all into a freezer bag. Then you can just pop them out as you need them.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Hot Pumpkin Chocolate
2 Tablespoons Pumpkin Puree
2 Cups Milk
1 Tablespoon Cocoa Powder
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Stir all ingredients together into a saucepan. Cook on medium heat until hot. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream if desired.

Making Your Own Pumpkin Puree

It is time.

It is fall. The weather started to turn chilly (actually darn tootin cold for a couple weeks) although it seems to have changed its mind this week. My porch is covered in sycamore leaves that don't seem to have come from my trees. And Halloween has come and gone.

So I can finally bake my pumpkins. I love baking with pumpkin. It might the orange color as much as the flavor.

My cousins have a pumpkin patch we go to every year. If you have never been to one, go. Especially if you have children. Picking out your own jack'o'lantern pumpkin is an experience that cannot be duplicated in the grocery store.

Last year was a bad year for the pumpkins. Apparently the crop was thin and that is why we are having trouble finding canned pumpkin in the grocery store. Or so I'm told. I haven't looked for canned pumpkin in years. So this would be the perfect year to try making your own pumpkin puree. It is super easy, and in my opinion, tastes better.

If you are looking for pumpkins to eat, then you are looking for different pumpkins than what you would use to carve. Look for the pumpkins that are the size of a basketball or smaller. These are much sweeter and have a better flavor than the larger pumpkins. That and they will fit into your oven.
Take the stem off.
Cut the pumpkin in half.
And scoop out the seeds and strings.
There are a couple things you can do with pumpkin detritus. Many people love pumpkin seeds as a snack. I'm not sure why, but I have never really cared for it. I like to bury the seeds. Do you know what happens if you bury this many pumpkin seeds? You end of with this many pumpkin plants. That take over your yard. And your deck. And your house. Seriously, bury them AWAY from the house.

Place the halves onto a large baking dish. Add a glassful of water to the bottom of the pan.
Sprinkle a couple teaspoons of cinnamon into the water. This will not give the pumpkin any flavor to speak of, but will make your house smell divine.Bake at 350 for about an hour. At about 30 minutes, check to see if a knife can easily be stuck through the skin. When that happens, turn off the oven and remove the pan. It is going to be really hot for quite awhile, so just let it sit on the counter. When it is cool enough to handle, scoop out the good stuff, leaving the skin behind.
Put this into a blender and puree. Where this picture is, I really don't know. Add two cups of the puree to a good quality freezer bag. Flatten it out and remove as much as the air as you can. Stack these bags on top of one another in the freezer. This is the best way I have found to freeze pumpkin. Space-wise, it can't be beat. Be sure to label your bag with the date. You know, in case it falls down into the depths of your freezer.
I have used pumpkin prepared and frozen this way up to a year later and not noticed it being any different than just-pureed. While the procedure is fairly time consuming, it really isn't difficult...it's a great Saturday afternoon project.

If you enjoy pumpkin, I highly recommend trying this at least once. I can just about guarantee you will never use canned pumpkin again.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Pumpkin Puree
1 Pie Pumpkin
1 Cup Water
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the insides. Place each half face down onto a large baking pan. Add water. Bake at 350 for about an hour. Scoop the flesh of the pumpkin out of the skin. Puree in a blender. Add two cups to a good quality freezer bag. Label and freeze for up to 1 year.

Crock Pot Pumpkin Pie Pudding

When we were little, my sister would take a piece of pie and eat the filling. Left on her plate was a poor, sad, unloved little crust. Of course, she also wouldn't eat the Hershey's kiss off the peanut butter cookie. She's so weird.

This recipe reminded me of her. Not that she gets to enjoy it. Poor thing. Down in Texas. No fall. No pie.

Take 2 cups of your pumpkin puree (or 1 can solid pack pumpkin, really, you need to try to making your own, I promise, you will not be disappointed)
Add 1 can of evaporated milk, 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup Bisquick.
This is where I got into trouble. I didn't have Bisquick. I never have Bisquick. It is just not something I ever think about buying. So, off to Google I went.

You can make a Bisquick substitute by combining 1 cup flour, 1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon shortening. I had the shortening that is packaged just like a butter stick. Have you ever looked at these packages? It's a bit difficult to make out, but it warns you not to use shortening as a spread. Ew. Anyone else just full body shudder thinking about that?
Back to the ingredients. Mix these all together. This is more difficult than it sounds. I couldn't get the shortening to really mix very well. But, since I didn't have Bisquick, I forged ahead.
Add this into your pumpkin mixture.
Then beat 2 eggs
Add those to the pumpkin mixture along with 2 tablespoons melted butter, 2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice and 2 teaspoons vanilla.
Here's something to ponder. The pumpkin pie spice comes with a sprinkle top. Who sprinkles pumpkin pie spice? Definitely not me!
Let The Boy whisk it all together.
At this point, I realized that this recipe made A LOT of mix. A lot. So I poured half of the mix into a greased crock pot to make the pudding. If you look closely, you can see my pretend Bisquick mixture did not incorporate very well. I was a bit skeptical about this, but it ended up melting in as it cooked.
The other half of the pumpkin mixture went into a frozen pie shell (sorry Sis).
Again with the pretend Bisquick...
That was baked at 350 for about 45 minutes. If you think about it, add foil around the edges of the pie crust to keep it from getting overly brown. I did not think of this in time, hence the overly brown edges. Mmmm...can it get any better than this??
Why yes. Yes, it can.
The Boy was really excited about the pie he made.
Notice in the background, there, is the crock pot with the rest of the pumpkin mixture. That is cooking on low for about 5 hours.

When you lift the lid, you will see this...
If you look closely, you will notice that the pretend Bisquick did indeed melt away. Whew.

Add some whipped cream...
This was delicious. I ended up eating most of the pudding since everyone else had pie earlier in the day. So for a single pie or pudding, the recipe needs to be cut in half. This is definitely a keeper. And perfect for those who just don't care for crust on their pies.

Click here for Printable Recipe

Crock Pot Pumpkin Pie Pudding
2 Cups Pumpkin Puree (or 1 can solid pack pumpkin)
1 Can Evaporated Milk
3/4 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Bisquick
2 Eggs, beaten
2 Tablespoons Butter, melted
2 1/2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
2 teaspoons Vanilla
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Transfer to a greased crock pot. Cover and cook 5-6 hours on low.