Pumpin' Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

Every once in a while I get an urge for something pumpkin. Lately it's been pumpkin pie oatmeal and pumpkin bread. While trying to decide what to make for breakfast yesterday, I spied some leftover pumpkin puree in my refrigerator....right next to some leftover coconut milk. Oh, the possibilities! What emerged from my imagination was so smooth and creamy, so delicious, I had to share it with you. 

Ingredients:

1 frozen banana, broken in chunks

1/2 cup canned coconut milk

1/2 cup soy or almond milk

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 heaping Tb. brown sugar or sweetener of choice

1 Tb. chia gel or ground flax seed

1 capful vanilla extract

Instructions:

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until very smooth and creamy. 

Yield: 2 cups

Calories: approximately 194 per 1-cup serving

Try this! A dollop of fat-free non-dairy whipped topping and some artfully crushed graham cracker sprinkled over the top for a guilt-free dessert.

Mmmm. I'm gonna to go whip me up some breakfast now... :-)

Pumpkin Scones

I've been trying to be thrifty lately. Making my own laundry detergent, frequenting thrift stores instead of heading directly to the department store, baking and pureeing my own pumpkin...I thought I'd save a lot of money by doing the latter. I didn't. Here's why. 

I bought two small pie pumpkins for $4.00 and only ended up with about 30 ounces of pumpkin. That's the equivalent of two cans of pumpkin at the grocery store. I'm pretty sure you can get a can of pumpkin for less than $2.00. So, in order to really save money, I need to get a gigantic pumpkin! I'm sure I can...I know I can...I WILL do better than a purchased can of pumpkin. Plus, fresh pureed pumpkin tastes better, in my humble opinion.

So, tonight I used my puree in two recipes. First I made Pumpkin Bars (archived recipe) to take for my daughters class tomorrow morning, and then I found a recipe by Iowa Girl Eats for Starbucks Clone Pumpkin Scones. They sounded delicious and easy. They are. I chose to use my food processor to mix the ingredients together, but you can use the bowl and spoon method, too. I altered her recipe, but you can visit her website for the original. Just click on the link above.

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

7 Tb. granulated sugar

1 Tb. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 cup fresh or canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

3 Tb. canned coconut milk

1 1/2 tsp. egg replacer (Ener'G) whisked with 2 Tb. warm water

6 Tb. cold stick margarine, cut in pieces

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425. 

In large food processor or mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices and mix well to combine. Add cold margarine in chunks and pulse in food processor until mix is the texture of dry biscuit mix. If you're not using a food processor, just cut the margarine in with fingers or a fork until it reaches the same texture. 

In a small bowl, combine pumpkin puree, coconut milk and egg replacer. Add to dry ingredients and pulse to combine, or stir until the dough comes together into a ball. Remove the dough and place on a lightly floured surface. Knead a few times to bring the dough together, then shape into a circle about 1" thick. Cut the circle in half, then into quarters (making 8 equal scones).

Place wedges on a baking sheet and bake for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool until safe to handle, then transfer to a cooling rack. When scones are cool, top with these two delightful icings. 

Plain Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 Tb. canned coconut milk

Mix together in a small bowl until smooth and creamy. Use half of the icing as the first layer. Allow to harden slightly before applying the spiced icing. 

Spiced Icing:

Add a pinch of cinnamon and a pinch of allspice to the remaining plain icing. Drizzle over the top of the plain icing. Allow to harden before eating scone. It will be hard, but you can do it.

Yield: 8 scones

Pumpkin Bars (To Die For)

Yummmm! This is my all~time favorite recipe for pumpkin bars. I first tasted these at a rehearsal dinner for a friends wedding and just had to have the recipe. I've never liked the amount of eggs required, though. I experimented last night using a bit of silken tofu as a substitute for eggs and voila! My family agrees that these are the best thing they have eaten all week! The tofu makes the bars more cake like: fluffy, moist, and without the eggy taste. This could easily be made into a pumpkin cake or even cupcakes!

Ingredients:

1 cup silken tofu, blended until smooth (I used Mori-Nu Tofu)

1 2/3 cup white sugar

1 cup oil

16 oz. pumpkin

2 cups white flour

2 tsp. baking pwdr.

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

Instructions:

Combine wet ingredients in a medium bowl. Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl. Mix wet and dry together, making sure all the flour is incorporated. Pour onto a sprayed medium sized cookie sheet and smooth out. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. You can frost these with a mixture of powdered sugar, vanilla and water, and it yields a light "crunch" to the top of the bar.

Yield: Depends on how big you cut the bars! :) I cut 28 medium sized squares.

Enjoy these "melt-in-your-mouth" gems (as my husband calls them).

Creamy Pumpkin Pie

One of the main reasons why I love this season is Variations on a Theme in the Key of Pumpkin! Pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bars, pumpkin cheesecake...the list goes on. I've been trying to find a good vegan recipe for pumpkin pie that does not taste like raw pumpkin plunked in a pie shell, and yesterday I met with success!

Ingredients:

1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree

3/4 c. sugar

3/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 c. silken tofu, processed in blender (with a little water) until smooth

1 cup soy milk (optional ~ I didn't use it because the tofu was so smooth)

1 9 in. pie shell

Instructions:

Cream together pumpkin, sugar, salt, spices, and tofu. Add milk (if you are using it).

Pour into pie shell and bake at 375-400 degrees for 60 - 75 minutes. Makes one 9" pie.

This pie tastes just like a regular pumpkin pie, but doesn't include the eggs or condensed milk, which I feel better about. It's texture is a little soft, but definitely delicious!