How To Puree a Pumpkin

Step One: Pick Your Pumpkin

Pick out a nice baking pumpkin, one that is one that seems heavy for its size. At the store they may be marked as sugar pumpkins or pie pumpkins. I do not recommend using a carving pumpkin. Read above to learn more about the differences.

Step Two: Cut and Gut Your Pumpkin

Cut the top off you pumpkin then proceed to cutting the pumpkin in half using a large chefs knife. Watch out for fingers! Use a spoon to scrape out the seeds.

This pumpkin had a bruise and was a little moldy on the bottom. I simple cut the bottom off and threw it in the compost. The top was full of good pumpkin I made sure to double check and make sure there was not more mold and there wasn’t all was good.

Step Three: Cut and Boil Pumpkin

Cut you pumpkin into medium sized pieces and place in a pot. Fill your pot with water and boil for 1 hour.

Step Four: Blend the Pumpkin

Once cooled, peel the pumpkin and place in your vitamix, blender or food processor. Blend on high until very smooth.

Step Five: Store Your Fresh Pumpkin Puree

When its all blended smooth and the perfect pumpkin puree, pour it into mason jars, zip-lock bags or any airtight container you plan to store it in. You can leave it in the fridge for 7-10 days or in the freezer for up to a year. I like to freeze mine and use it through out the fall season in all my pies, breads and soups.

Is it better to Boil, Bake or Steam your Pumpkin?

When you boil your pumpkin, the pumpkin absorbs a little bit of water. When you bake it some of the water evaporates. You’ll notice the difference when you go to blend it. If you bake it you will most likely have to add water in the blender to get the pumpkin smooth. When you boil your pumpkin you will not need to add any water.

When I bake my pumpkin I also add a little bit of water to may baking sheet with my pumpkin and so that my pumpkin doesn’t dry out. It works great and I never have to add water when blending.

When steaming my pumpkin I still didn’t need to add water but the pumpkin puree was defiantly thicker then when I boiled it.

I don’t think if makes a big difference on whether you boil, bake or steam. The process is very similar and so are the results.

FAQs

What is the difference between a carving pumpkin and a baking pumpkin?

A baking pumpkin (or pie pumpkin) will be a little smaller and heavy for its size. The heavier the pumpkin typically the better for baking. Baking pumpkins have thicker walls and are sweeter then the carving pumpkins.

A carving pumpkin is typically large and light. The inside walls are thinner and stringy. Carving pumpkins are not as sweet and once cooked can have a little bit of a bitter taste to them. The taste is not always noticeable in your recipes but the baking pumpkins make your desserts and soups and breads so much better.

Can I make pumpkin puree from a carving pumpkin?

If you have already carved the pumpkin and you had it as decoration for Halloween then NO. Once its been cut open the pumpkin it will start to slowly rot. So do not use your carved pumpkins to for eating. You can however bake our boil the scraps and pieces you cut out of your pumpkin and make them into pumpkin puree rather then throwing them in the trash.

If you are just asking if the carving type of pumpkin is good for eating and making puree, the answer is… they are not the best. Carving pumpkins are edible and taste fine. They are not as sweet as baking pumpkins and they are stringy. They also often have thinner walls not giving you as much meat to work with.

Can I make pumpkin puree from pumpkin guts?

Pumpkin guts are the stringy insides that we pull out of our carving pumpkins. They are not ideal for making pumpkin puree but you absolutely can. I would add them to a pot of boiling water for 30 minutes then drain the water and put them in the blender. You will then have a little pumpkin puree to eat.

What is the best pumpkin to use for puree?

The best pumpkins are the baking pumpkins. There are lots of different verities of baking pumpkins and they are all a little different but will still work great for cooking and baking with. There are some verities that are considered carving pumpkins because of there thin walls and light weight.

Pumpkin Puree (Boiling)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

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Ingredients

• 1 Pumpkin

Instructions

1. Cut your pumpkin in half and clean out the seeds.
2. Cut pumpkin into medium-large pieces.
3. Place your pumpkin pieces in a large pot and fill it with water.
4. Boil the pumpkins for 1 hour, then turn off the heat.
5. Peal the pumpkin pieces and place the pumpkin in a blender or food processor and blend till smooth.
6. Store in a mason jar, air tight container or zip-lock bag for 7-10 days in the refrigerator or the freezer for up to a year.

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Apple Pie Filling

Yield: 1, 9 inch pie

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Additional Time: 4 hours

Total Time: 5 hours 40 minutes

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Ingredients

• 5 lbs (8 Large) Granny Smith Apples
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup flour or cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon all-spice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions

1. Make pie crust dough (Gingerbread Crust, Classic Pie Crust) and refrigerate.
2. Peel, core and slice 8 large apples.
3. In a large pot mix together all filling ingredients, apples, lemon juice, lemon zest, brown sugar, white sugar, flour, salt, vanilla powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and all-spice.
4. On the stove, heat your apple filling mixture on medium high for about 40 minutes or until the apples are soft and syrup is thick.
5. Cool your filling down completely. I often will refrigerate it over night and assemble and bake the pie in the morning but 1 hour is typically enough time.
6. Assemble pie crust and pour the pie filling in. Add the top crust and bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees and 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Apple pie with soft cinnamon spiced apples and flaky crust making this fall and holiday season full of warmth and joy as we gather around the table. Enjoy this apple pie recipe with ice cream, eggnog, caramel syrup and whipped cream!

Tips For Easy Pie Making

Buy An Apple Peeler

For the last couple years I have been making apple pie by peeling my apples by hand. I have enjoyed the slow peeling process and romanticized it a little so it never felt like a chore but a treat. This week I decided splurge and buy a $20 apple peeler, slicer and corer. Oh my word I was done so fast I didn’t know what to do with myself!

If you want to save time and energy this holiday season, especially if you make everything from scratch for Thanksgiving and Christmas I highly recommend buying a peeler. Its well worth it. Here’s the one I ordered.

Apple Peeler Corer, Long lasting Chrome Cast Magnesium Alloy Apple Peeler Slicer Corer with Stainless Steel Blades and Powerful Suction Base for Apples and Potato(White)

Make Your Crust The Day Before

The day before I want to make my pies I also make the crust. The crust turn our flakier and tender if the sit in the refrigerator for a least an hour before baking. You want the butter to stay as cold as possible when making your crust and storing it in the refrigerator for a day or 2 before baking with it helps tremendously. You can keep your crust in the refrigerator for up to 10 days if needed or you can freeze for 6 months.

Cook Your Filling Ahead of Time

My trick for not burning my crust while getting perfectly soft apples with thick syrup filling every time is to cook my apple pie filling ahead of time. This allows my to take the pie out of the oven as soon as the crust is done without having to guess if my filling is done.

When you cook, make sure you cook to the exact texture you want your apples to be with your apple pie. The apples will not get softer when you bake it. Once cooked and cooled something happens to the apples and they don’t ‘cook’ any more after the first cook. So Don’t under cook your apples or they will be crunchy in your apple pie.

Ingredients for Apple Pie Filling

Apples

Granny Smith Apples are the favorite for apple pies. They are firm in texture and cook to a tender soft apple while still keeping its form. They are more sour than a Fuji or Gala apples which adds a extra layer of flavor to our sweet apple pie.

Sugar

This recipe calls for both brown sugar and white sugar. Sugar is our sweetener of choice but honey, maple syrup or Monk Fruit sweetener is also a great alternatives. If you use the honey or maple syrup just be sure to cook for a long time at a medium to low temperature when you cook your filling on the stove top. Honey and maple syrup burn easier. They also have more liquid in them than cane sugar so you also might want to add another tablespoon of flour or cornstarch.

Cinnamon, All-Spice, Nutmeg & Salt

Our spices include cinnamon, nutmeg, and all-spice. These spices add so much flavor and you can easily adjust the amounts and create a whole new flavor. If you favor one flavor over the other you can experiment by adding a extra 1/4 teaspoon to the spice you want to stand out. Reduce another spice you want to be more subtle then the others.

I also really like freshly ground nutmeg. This is optional but if you have never tried grating your own nutmeg from whole cloves you are missing out. I love the taste of nutmeg and fresh nutmeg does not disappoint.

Vanilla Powder/Extract

You can use vanilla powder or vanilla extract. The vanilla is optional but I like the subtle background flavor it gives to my apple pies.

Flour/Cornstarch

The flour or cornstarch is what thickens the syrup of our filling. The sugar also makes it syrupy but because there is so much juice from the apples the flour or cornstarch thickens it up perfectly.

You can use either flour or cornstarch. I typically use flour because its quick and usually our already but If I’m making a gluten free apple pie I use cornstarch. Some people think the flour gives it a funny taste so they prefer the cornstarch but I have found that with apple pie I never taste the flour taste that you get in other pies like Raspberry Pie.

Lemon Juice & Lemon Zest

The lemon flavor is not strong but adds a balances the sweet and tangy flavors with the granny smith apples and the sweet sugar along with the warm spices.

How To Make Apple Pie

Step 1: Make a Crust

Like I mentioned before, I always makes my crust the day or two before. You can make the crust the same day but be sure to let it refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

I personally really like the gingerbread pie crust recipe with the apple pie but a classic pie crust works great too. I also have a gluten free pie crust recipe.

Step 2: Peel Apples

Peel, core and slice about 5lbs or 8 large apples for your apple pie. Again, I highly recommend getting an apple peeler to save so much time!

Step 3: Mix Pie Filling Ingredients

In a large pot combine the apples, sugar, lemon juice and zest, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, all-spice, salt and vanilla powder all together.

Step 4: Cook Filling on Stove Top

Cook the filling in a large pot covered with a lid for 30-60 minutes. Cooking the apples before baking insures an even bake between the apples and the crust. Get perfectly soft apples with thick syrup filling every time is to cook my apple pie filling ahead of time. This allows my to take the pie out of the oven as soon as the crust is done without having to guess if my filling is done. Do Not Under Cook The Apples.

Step 5: Let the Apples Cool

Cool the apples completely before adding them to your pie crust. If you’ve read my 5 tips on a perfect crust you will understand why. The butter in the crust needs to stay cool until its in the oven. You don’t want it to melt until its time for it to create the flaky air bubbles in the crust. So do not put warm apple pie filling in the crust or you might melt the butter too soon and the butter will absorb the flour and you will get a dense crust.

I have often made the filling the day before and let it sit in the fridge overnight before baking on Thanksgiving day.

Step 6: Bake Pie

Now its time to bake your apple pie. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 325. We want the crust to get hot so that the butter can melt quickly and the steam can do its job in making a flaky crust, then we reduce the temperature so that we don’t burn the tops of the crust.

Step 7: Let Pie Cool and Enjoy

One the pie crust is completely cook your pie is done! Let cool on counter or refrigerator for at least 4 hours before cutting into. Enjoy with some ice cream, eggnog, whipped cream or caramel syrup!

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Apple Peeler Corer, Long lasting Chrome Cast Magnesium Alloy Apple Peeler Slicer Corer with Stainless Steel Blades and Powerful Suction Base for Apples and Potato(White)

Monk Fruit In The Raw Sweetener Baker’s Bag, 16 oz., Keto Certified Monk Fruit Sweetener, Zero Calories, Zero Net Carbs, Non-GMO Project Verified

The Spice Way Nutmeg Whole – (4 oz)

Cook’s, Pure Vanilla Powder, World’s Finest Gourmet Fresh Premium Vanilla, 4.5 oz

Antenda Adjustable Silicone Pie Crust Shields – Baking Protectors Cover Ring Fits 8-11.4 Inch Pies

The post Simple Classic Apple Pie Recipe appeared first on Embracing The Home.

Snickerdoodle Peach Cobbler

Yield: 9 inch Pie Pan

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

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Ingredients

Peach Filling

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• 18-20 Fresh Peaches OR 3-4 cans of peaches OR 6 cups frozen peaches
• 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
• 1/3 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 of a Whole Nutmeg Pit. Grated.
• A pinch of salt

Snickerdoodle Crumble Topping

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• 3/4 Cup Flour
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon Cornstarch
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
• 2 Table Spoons Cold Butter. Cubed
• 1 Egg

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Peach Filling

1. Wash and cut up 18-20 peaches.
2. In a small bowl mix together 1/3 cup sugar and 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
3. Combine the sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg and salt with the peaches in a pie pan or 9x9 baking dish.

Snickerdoodle Crumble Topping

1. In a medium sized bowl mix together the dry ingredients. 3/4 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 1 Tablespoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon baking powder.
2. With a fork or your clean hands mix in 2 Tablespoon cold cubed butter into the dry ingredients.
3. Once the butter is evenly incorporated and the dough is able to hold together add 1 egg and mix in.

Assemble and Bake

1. Sprinkle the Snickerdoodle topping on the top of the prepared peaches.
2. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes uncovered.
3. Bake for an additional 25 minutes with a foil covering so that the topping doesn't burn.
4. Take out of over and let cool completely before serving with ice cream or whipped cream or caramel syrup, or even just simply by its self!

This peach cobbler recipe is made with fresh peaches and a from scratch snickerdoodle crumble topping. Its simple and easy and I go step by step with instructions for this amazing summer dessert.

Ingredients for Snickerdoodle Peach Cobber

Peaches

Fresh peaches, apricots, nectarine you could probably substitute with an summer stone fruit. My mother in law has a peach tree and gave us a big bag full of ripe and ready to use peaches. We needed to use them quickly so I washed them, cut out any bruises and blemishes and prepped for cobbler.

This recipe would also work with canned peaches or frozen peaches. If canned I suggest draining most (80%) of the juices before adding them to the cobbler. Frozen peaches need to be thawed for this recipe to work. If you don’t thaw them you will need to cook them for longer risking the burning of the snickerdoodle topping.

Sugar

I use organic can sugar for this recipe and it turned out great! You can sweeten this with other sweeteners such as honey or maple syrup, monk fruit sweetener, etc… Honey or maple syrup will work will to sweeten the peach filling but the snickerdoodle crumble topping should be a granulated sugar of some work. So if you are looking for a healthier alternative I suggest monk fruit sweetener. It works just like normal sugar and the substitution ratio is 1:1.

Cornstarch

Cornstarch will help thicken the juices from the peaches as it cooks. Sugar in the peaches also helps thicken the juices by caramelizing but because this recipe doesn’t call for a lot of sugar in the filling cornstarch helps out a bit. If you are using honey or maple syrup in the filling maybe add a little extra cornstarch as the honey and syrups have more liquid in them and don’t caramelize the same as sugar.

Nutmeg

I love nutmeg. Fresh nutmeg is amazing. If you have never used fresh whole nutmeg buy it today! It has a long lasting shelf life and is easy to grate into recipes. A little hard to measure but so worth it. The flavor is bright and nutty, sweet and spicy but warm. I love all things with nutmeg in them.

Flour

All purpose flour is idea for this recipe. Most of the time when I bake I use 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 all purpose but for dessert I typically only use all purpose. It’s a much lighter flour with less flavor letting the sugar, butter and cinnamon flavors shine through without the bread flavor.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is what makes our topping taste like snickerdoodles! Along with the sugar and butter… the cinnamon sure adds a lot and this recipe wouldn’t be called snickerdoodle peach cobbler with out the cinnamon.

Salt

A little salt for brightening all the other flavors we have going on. Not too much just enough.

Butter

Although I don’t use a lot of butter for this recipe it plays a big part. The butter get hand mixed, while cold, beading up the flour and sugar till they just start to hold together. Don’t overwork it. We don’t want the butter to melt fully before baking.

Egg

1 egg to add a little more moisture, help hold everything together and keep the crumble from becoming dense.

How to Make Peach Cobbler

Make Peach Filling

Step One: Wash, and dice peaches

If using fresh peaches wash them and cut off any bruises or blemishes that you don’t want to eat. I cut mine in half, then quartered them then cut them in chunks. You can cut them as big or small as you like. I prefer a small bite size chunk. I cut them straight into my 9 inch pie pan or 9×9 square baking dish till it’s full to the top. This was 19 peaches.

Step Two: Add Sugar, Cornstarch, Nutmeg and Salt

In a small bowl combine sugar, salt and cornstarch. The cornstarch likes to clump up so mixing it with another dry ingredient help distribute evenly. If you are using ground nutmeg you can add it too. If you are using fresh whole nutmeg you can grate it either into a bowl or straight into the peaches.

Sprinkle the cornstarch and sugar mixture on to the peaches and mix in. Grate in the nutmeg and mix in.

Make Crumble Topping

Step 1: Mix Dry Ingredients

In a separate bowl mix together flour, sugar, cornstarch, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Mix so everything is combined with a whist, spoon or fork.

Step 2: Add Butter and Egg

First add the cold cubed butter. Mix in with a fork or your clean hands. Press the butter into the flour mixture with out melting the butter still its seem to be distributed evenly and starts to hold together when you squeeze it in your hands. At this point add the egg and mix it in either with you hands or a fork. The texture should be a little crumbly but hold together well.

Assemble and Bake

Take your snickerdoodle topping and crumble it on top of the peaches. Place a baking sheet under the pie pan or 9×9 dish to catch any drippings.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes uncovered and then cover with foil so the topping doesn’t burn. Cook for another 25 minutes. The peach juices should start to get all bubbly and possible bubble over the pan. If the juices are not bubbly the cobbler is not done leave for another 5-10 minutes. If everything looks good take it out of the oven and let cool completely.

Serve your family and friends this delicious Snickerdoodle Peach Cobbler with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, and maybe even some caramel sauce… and ENJOY!

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Most of these ingredients should be very easy to find in your local grocery store or you already have in your pantry. Although fresh nutmeg and monk fruit sweetener (optional) may be hard to find… here are some links to make it easier.

Monk Fruit In The Raw Sweetener Baker’s Bag, 16 oz., Keto Certified Monk Fruit Sweetener, Zero Calories, Zero Net Carbs, Non-GMO Project Verified

Whole Nutmeg – The Spice Way – 4oz

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