Ingredients For Pumpkin Gingerbread Loaf

Pumpkin Puree

You can use canned pumpkin or fresh pumpkin for this recipe. I like to cook a pumpkin or two at the beginning of the fall season and freeze my pumpkin puree for all my pumpkin recipes throughout the festive months. If you are using a whole pumpkin check out my post on how to make pumpkin puree.

Plain or Vanilla Yogurt

I use Greek Plain Yogurt, I use yogurt in replacement for oils or butter in most of my muffins and bread. It has more vitamins and protein then oils and butter and less fat.

Eggs

Eggs are the binding agent in this recipe also adding 6.5 grams of protein per eggs. Whole Eggs also contain vitamin B12, selenium (anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, and stimulates the immune system) and iron.

Blackstrap Molasses

Full of flavor, nutrients and keeps my breads moist and delicious! Oh how I love molasses! It is so rich in so many vitamins and minerals and such a fun ingredient to add to my recipes. Molasses contains, iron, calcium, magnesium, sodium, copper and more. healthy for your heart and nervous system. Read more on the Benefits of Molasses here!

Flour

I use a combination of organic whole wheat and organic all purpose flour. Whole wheat is full of a wider range of vitamins and minerals such as, manganese, calcium and selenium, then all purpose or even enriched flours. It also has more flavor but is also a bit more dense. So I do half and half whole wheat and all purpose.

Sugar

You can substitute sugar with honey or maple syrup. Both of those would also add a lovely flavor to this recipe but I typically bake with sugar and save my honey and syrup for smoothies, pancakes, teas, oatmeal and such.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is the chosen spice in order to add another layer of flavor to this recipe. Nutmeg, cloves or allspice would also be great additions but this recipe already seem complex with so many textures that I left those out for now.

Salt

Salt is going to help bring out all the flavor in this recipe. You can use table salt or pink Himalayan salt or another sea salt will also works great.

Baking Soda and Baking Powder

Both of these are a rising agent. The original recipe just had baking soda but as I adapted and added all these heavy grains I found the baking powder was also needed.

Vanilla

I like to use vanilla powder rather than extract. You can find the vanilla powder on amazon. This powder is a 1:1 ratio for vanilla extract so you don’t have to do any extra math when substituting. I like the flavor a lot and its been a great addition to my pantry.

How To Make Pumpkin Gingerbread

Mix Wet Ingredients

In a large bowl mix together pumpkin, yogurt, eggs, and molasses.

Add Dry Ingredients

Next add your sugar, flour, spices and baking soda. Mix together with a whisk, spoon or spatula.

Prepare Your Loaf Pan

Butter or oil, your loaf pan and sprinkle a mixture of cinnamon and sugar on in the pan to give the crust a sweet crunchy texture. Pour the gingerbread batter into the prepared pan.

Bake

Bake at 300 degree for 60 minutes. Due to the molasses the bread will be dark and a little hard to tell when its done. Insert a toothpick to see if your loaf is done. If it comes out clean it is done, if it comes out with batter or crumbs stuck to it, it needs to bake longer.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Loaf

Yield: 1 Loaf

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

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Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract/powder

Instructions

1. In a large bowl mix together wet ingredients. pumpkin, eggs, molasses, yogurt,
2. Next add the sugar and then the rest of the dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, vanilla,
3. Prepare your loaf pan by spreading butter or oil and sprinkling 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of sugar.
4. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake at 300 for 60 minutes.

The post Pumpkin Gingerbread Loaf appeared first on Embracing The Home.

Ingredients for Pumpkin Cookies

Pumpkin Puree

You can use canned pumpkin or fresh pumpkin for this recipe. I like to cook a pumpkin or two at the beginning of the fall season and freeze my pumpkin puree for all my pumpkin recipes throughout the festive months. If you are using a whole pumpkin check out my post on how to make pumpkin puree.

Flour

In most of my recipes I like to use 1/2 all purpose 1/2 whole wheat but for these cookies I choose to use 100% All Purpose Flour. All purpose has a much lighter texture insuring a the soft, light texture to our cookie. Whole wheat flours can make them more dense and may not meet your dessert expectations.

Brown Sugar

Brown sugar is our sweetener. It is important to use brown sugar for it molasses content. We will also be adding additional molasses so if you don’t have brown sugar you and simply substitute with regular granulated sugar or Monk Fruit Sweetener and double the amount of molasses the recipe calls for.

I like to use organic cane sugar from Azure Standard. If you’ve never heard from azure standard before you should check our my Azure Standard Review to learn more.

To Learn more about how to make brown sugar here is my recipes

Butter

Because of the pumpkin puree we will use about 1/2 of the normal amount of butter that you would normally see in a cookie recipe. This produces more of a soft cake like cookie rather than a chewy cookie.

Eggs

Eggs help our cookie from crumbling. They help holds everything together and is a part of the rising action and helps determine the crumbliness or chewiness of your cookie. This recipe calls for two eggs. But after reading “Cookie Science: How Do Eggs Affect My Cookies?” I might try double yoke and one white instead of 2 whole eggs. For now I’m keeping it simple also cause it works. 2 eggs.

Molasses

Molasses is a rich in nutrient, color, and flavor, thick syrup that we get from sugar cane. I use blackstrap molasses for its nutrient benefits in smoothie, pasta sauces, chili, breakfast muffins, and more. Although we have molasses in our brown sugar I added more to enrich the flavor and texture of this cookie while adding extra nutrients and taking out a little saturated fats by using less butter than normal.

Baking Soda and Baking Powder

This recipe calls for both baking soda and baking powder. Baking soda is activated as soon as it is mixed in with another acidic ingredient. In our case, brown sugar BUT because the brown sugar and butter is mixed together first the baking soda and acidic brown sugar will not activate until the butter melt from around the brown sugar.

The baking powder is also activated at the mixing point but also has some agents in it that need heat to insure activation. So although baking soda and baking powder are very similar we find that one is activated more by acidity and the other is activated more by heat.

Vanilla

I like to use vanilla powder rather than extract. You can find the vanilla powder on amazon. This powder is a 1:1 ratio for vanilla extract so you don’t have to do any extra math when substituting. I like the flavor a lot and its been a great addition to my pantry.

Spices

Our spices include cinnamon, ginger, 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.

Salt

Enhance the flavor with good salt like Redmond Real Salt. If you are looking for a unrefined natural salt with multiple minerals and electrolytes harvested in the United States of America, then look no further. Redmond Real Salt is full of flavor and nutrients and harvested out of the ancient seabed deep beneath Central Utah.

How To Make Gingerbread Molasses Cookies

Mix Butter & Brown Sugar

In a large bowl or stand mixer, mix soft butter and brown sugar together. This is important to the chemical reaction that we want to get a perfect cookie.

Add Wet ingredients

Add pumpkin puree, eggs and molasses to the butter and sugar mixture and combine thoroughly.

Add Dry Ingredients

Next, add the four, spices and baking soda and powder.

Refrigerate

Once the cookie dough is all mixed together refrigerate for a least 30 minutes, 1 hour is best. We want to refrigerate so that the dough is easy to roll into a ball. If the cookies are not clean round balls they will look a little messy and bumpy and hard to frost with the white chocolate icing.

Form and Bake

Take spoon or cookie scoop and form a nice clean round cookie dough ball. At this point you can dip into cinnamon and sugar before baking or just leave plain. If you don’t plan on making the white chocolate icing then I do think you should roll it in some cinnamon and sugar.

Bake in the oven for 8 minutes at 350 degrees.

Ingredients for White Chocolate Icing

White chocolate chips

You can also use white chocolate baking squares or bars but white chocolate chips work really well too.

Milk

White chocolate does not melt the same way as regular coco chocolate chips. White chocolate likes to stay thick and need the milk to help smooth it out and make it spreadable.

Butter

Butter also help the white chocolate chips break down to something more workable without adding to much liquid.

Make While Chocolate Icing.

In a sauce pan on medium high heat melt the white chocolate chips, butter and milk together. do not let it boil, just get it hot and melted and smooth.

Take off the heat and dip the cookies into the white chocolate and let cool on a cooling rack. Or you can take a fork or spoon and drizzle the icing on the cookies for fun designs.

If you white chocolate cools down to fast it will not be workable. Simply reheat and continue to drizzle or dip your cookies.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Additional Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

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Ingredients

Pumpkin Gingerbread Cookie Dough

Toggle ingredient group

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses (1 1/2 tablespoons light molasses)
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon all-spice

White Chocolate Icing

Toggle ingredient group

• 1/2 cup white chocolate chip
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 tablespoons milk

Cinnamon Sugar

Toggle ingredient group

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoon cinnamon

Instructions

Pumpkin Gingerbread Cookies

1. In a large bowl or you stand mixture, beat together the the sugar and brown sugar
2. Add the pumpkin puree, eggs and molasses and mix all together.
3. Now add the dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, all-spice and vanilla.
4. Once it is all mix refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, 1 hour is best if you have the time. This will make the cookies easier to form into a clean circle.
5. Take a spoon or cookie do scoop and form smooth cookie dough balls. If desired roll them in your cinnamon sugar at this time.
6. Bake the cookies at 350 for 8 minutes.
7. let cool and drizzle or dip into your white chocolate.

White Chocolate Icing

1. Pour the white chocolate chips, butter and milk into a sauce pan and heat on a medium-high heat.
2. Once melted and mix together take off of the heat and dip the cookies or drizzle on top of the cookies while it is still hot. If it cools down and hardens simple reheat and continue.

The post Gingerbread Pumpkin Cookies Recipe (White Chocolate icing) appeared first on Embracing The Home.

To be honest, I don’t know that I will do this again. Mainly because my kids didn’t like the soup. I like it. When I blended the soup the next day my kids liked it better. Cooking it in the shell worked, but had some difficulties. I will share the process and to help you have success in your creative dinner making.

How to Cook Pumpkin Soup in a Pumpkin Shell

Choose Your Pumpkin

Choose a medium to large size pumpkin. You want the pumpkin to be big enough to fit all your soup fillings but small enough to fit in your pot or pan that you are baking it in.

Clean The Pumpkin

Wash the outside of the pumpkin. For cleanliness sake, we wash the outside of the pumpkin because we are using it as our bowl for out food.

Cut and Gut The Inside of The Pumpkin

Cut the top of the pumpkin off. Don’t cut to low or you will loose room for the soup. I cut the top off and the stem. I don’t want the stem catching fire in the oven and this also allows for a steam hole.

Saute Your Soup Ingredients

The recipe I used is a vegan veggie soup with jalapeno and coconut milk. The flavor was good but the texture did fit very well. It was too brothy and not creamy enough… I should have blended the bean with the vegetable broth to create a thicker, creamy texture. What every recipe you do try with your pumpkin shell make sure you saute and cook everything before putting it in the pumpkin. This will shorten the time you have it in the oven and assure everything got cook through. Especially if you are using meat.

Add Ingredients to The Pumpkin Shell

Pour you soup ingredients into your pumpkin shell. Broth, veggies, meat, beans. Leave any milks or dairy out until the end when its done baking.

Baking the Pumpkin Soup

Bake the pumpkin on the lowest rack in your oven at 375 degrees for 2 hours or until the shell is soften and the pumpkin is fully cooked. It may take longer depending on the size of the pumpkin. I did find out that at 375 my pumpkin skin did get a little brown so if you really want to avoid this maybe try 350 degrees for a longer time.

Scrape the Pumpkin And Serve

One the pumpkin is done baking, take a fork and scrape the sides of the soup from the inside getting the ‘meat’ of the pumpkin incorporated into the soup. Pour in your coconut milk or other dairy products your recipe might use. Serve your pumpkin soup from the shell and enjoy this fun meal!

Is Cooking Pumpkin Soup in the Shell Worth it?

Pros

There was too great benefits of serving the pumpkin soup straight our the shell. Number one was the appearance. It gets 5 starts for aesthetics. Secondly the pumpkin flavor in the broth was amazing. It wasn’t overpowering but it was defiantly there. It was a wonderful flavor but I do thing I could get that flavor with pumpkin chunks in a normal pot all the same.

Cons

It took a long time. Instead of just thought things into a pot and calling it soup this took a lot more prep work. Cleaning the pumpkin, with all the insides and seeds, took a good amount of work that in the end didn’t seem pay off as much as I wished it did. My kids loved making the soup with me but then wouldn’t eat it and that never feels good.

The texture with this recipe just did not work our quite right. The next day I blended the left over before heating it up for lunch and my kids ate some of it but not a lot. (I think it was may have been a little spicy for them).

Conclusion

It was very pretty and fun to do. More work for sure and kinda worth it. If ever I do this again it will be a different recipe. Something that my kids will enjoy, then maybe it will all be worth it for me.

How To Cook A pumpkin In the Shell

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Active Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes

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Materials

• 1 Pumpkin
• Large pot or deep pan
• Recipe and Ingredients

Instructions

1. Wash the outside of your pumpkin
2. Cut the top of the pumpkin off and clean out the inside from all the guts and seeds.
3. Saute you soup ingredients, then add them into your pumpkin shell along with your broth.
4. Bake the pumpkin for 2 hours at 375 degrees on the bottom rack of the oven.
5. Once the pumpkin is cooked take a fork and scrape the insides of the pumpkin without puncturing it.
6. Serve straight from the pumpkin and enjoy!

Vegan Pumpkin Spicy Soup With Coconut Cream

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes

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Ingredients

• 1 Pumpkin Whole, or 3 cups cubed pumpkin
• 1 1/2 cups cooked navy beans or 1, 15 oz can
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 onion
• 1 cup mushrooms
• 1 bell peppers
• 1 jalapeno (seeds optional)
• 1 banana pepper
• 1 cup chopped spinach or kale
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup coconut milk

Instructions

In A Whole Pumpkin Shell

1. Saute onions, bell peppers, jalapeno, banana peppers, garlic, spinach, mushrooms with the thyme, cinnamon and salt.
2. Pour into your cleaned out pumpkin shell. Also add the broth and navy beans save the coconut milk for later. (For a thicker, creamier broth, blend the broth and beans together before adding the soup)
3. Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for 2 hours.
4. Once the pumpkin is cooked take a fork and scrape the walls of the pumpkin without puncturing it.
5. Pour in the coconut milk. Serve and enjoy!

In A Pot On The Stove

1. In a pot saute onions, bell peppers, jalapeno, banana peppers, garlic, spinach, mushrooms with the thyme, cinnamon and salt and the cubed pumpkin a
2. Pour in the broth and navy beans save the coconut milk for later. (For a thicker, creamier broth, blend the broth and beans together before adding the soup)
3. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for 1 hour.
4. Once the pumpkin cubes are soft turn off the heat and pour in the coconut milk.
5. Serve and enjoy!

The post Can You Cook Pumpkin Soup In The Shell? appeared first on Embracing The Home.

Ingredients For Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

Pumpkin Puree

In these dinner rolls I use a good amount of pumpkin but the flavor of pumpkin actually not very strong. Most of the time when you think of pumpkin flavors you think of the spices that normally complement the pumpkin and bring the flavor out. Also most fall pumpkin recipe have a lot of sugar making it seem like pumpkin is naturally sweet like fruit but its actually not super sweet, just a little…

The pumpkin in the recipe real job is to add moisture and texture to our dinner rolls. The pumpkin holds on to the moisture without making it soggy but a warm, soft dinner rolls.

You can use canned pumpkin or fresh pumpkin for this recipe. I like to cook a pumpkin or two at the beginning of the fall season and freeze my pumpkin puree for all my pumpkin recipes throughout the fall and holiday months. If you are using a whole pumpkin check out my post on how to make pumpkin puree.

Flour

In most of my recipes I like to use 1/2 all purpose 1/2 whole wheat but for these rolls I choose to use 100% All Purpose Flour. All purpose has a much lighter texture insuring a good rise and lighter dinner roll. When I’m feeding my own family I’ll use 1/2 whole wheat but if I’m making them for Thankgiving or Christmas or a potluck I’ll stick to 100% all purpose.

Yeast

Yeast is our rising agent. You could also use sourdough starter and just give the rising time 8-12 hours rather than 1-2 hours… At this time in my life I’m using yeast to rise my dough. I use Fleischmann’s Yeast, The photos say bread machine yeast but that’s just the jar I continue to refill with their larger bag of normal dry yeast. I keep the yeast in the refrigerator and activate it with warm water for about 5 minutes before adding other ingredients.

Warm Water

Warm water is needed to activate the yeast. It the water is cold you risk the yeast not activating during the rise time. If the water is hot your risk killing the yeast, stopping the rise, before its entered the oven. The yeast likes a warm temperature to do it job.

Sugar/Honey

Yeast feeds off of sugar and honey and will activate faster if you add your sugar or honey in with the warm water while the yeast is activating. To add a little more flavor as well as sweetness to you dinner rolls I prefer honey for this recipe but sugar will work just as well.

Oil

Fats actually slow down the and can even stop the activation process of the yeast so it is important to not add the oil until its already activated and right before or even while you add in the flour. We add a little oil to our dinner roll to keep them from drying out and maintaining their soft texture.

Spices

In this recipe I use ginger and cinnamon. The pumpkin flavor is not super strong in these rolls so adding these two complementary flavors bring out some of the pumpkin flavor. I like these rolls because they are not over powering with spice and pumpkin flavor but a nice complement to fall dinner.

Salt

Enhance the flavor with good salt like Redmond Real Salt. If you are looking for a unrefined natural salt with multiple minerals and electrolytes harvested in the United States of America, then look no further. Redmond Real Salt is full of flavor and nutrients and harvested out of the ancient seabed deep beneath Central Utah.

How To Make Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

Activate Yeast

Add yeast, warm water and sugar/honey together in your mixing bowl to activate the yeast. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes. The yeast should get foamy and bubbly. On warm days the yeast will activate faster on cooler days it might look like the photo below. That’s okay, its still active.

Add Oil and Pumpkin

After a few minutes add the oil and pumpkin to the yeast mixture. Stir together.

Add the Dry Ingredients

Next you can add the flour, salt, ginger and cinnamon. Add the flour slowly into your bowl. If you are using a KitchenAid use the bread hook attachment and begin on low (2-4) while you add in the flour.

If you are mixing and kneading by hand, use a wooden spoon or spatula to mix in the flour slowly until its not as sticky then start using your hands but don’t forget to flour them.

Knead

Knead the dough until it forms into a nice ball at the end of your hook (or in your hands). You want the dough to no longer stick to the sides of the bowl (or stick to your hands). This can take 5-10 minutes of kneading.

Rest and Rise

In a large bowl, let the dough rest and rise until double in size. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap. In a warm house this might take 1 hour a cooler house this may take 2-3 hours.

Cut and Form Into Small Rolls

When the dough has double in size, fold it a few times over and cut in half, then cut those halves in half and those halves in thirds to create 12 equal pieces. Form each piece into a nice round ball and place on a baking sheet.

2nd Rise

Cover again with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let rise for a second time for an hour or until double in size.

Bake

Preheat oven to 375 and bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Let cool and enjoy with butter, honey, soup or stews or a turkey sandwich!

Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

Yield: 12 rolls

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Additional Time: 3 hours

Total Time: 3 hours 33 minutes

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Ingredients

• 3/4 cup warm water
• 2 teaspoons yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar/honey
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. In a bowl mix together the warm water, yeast and sugar/honey. Let sit for 5-10 minutes to let the yeast bubble up and activate.
2. After a few minutes add the oil and pumpkin puree to the mixture.
3. Add the flour, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Mix them in slowly till all combined. Knead for 5-8 minutes until the dough forms a nice round workable ball.
4. Let rise for 1-3 hours till double in size.
5. Cut into 12 pieces and form into nice round balls. Place an a baking sheet and let rise again for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
6. Preheat the oven at 375 degrees and bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown.
7. Let cool and enjoy your pumpkin dinner rolls!

The post How To Make Pumpkin Dinner Rolls appeared first on Embracing The Home.

Ingredients For Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin

You can use canned pumpkin or fresh pumpkin for this pie. I like to cook a pumpkin or two at the beginning of the fall season and freeze my pumpkin puree for all my pumpkin recipes throughout the festive months. If you are using a whole pumpkin check out my post on how to make pumpkin puree.

Flour

In most of my recipes I like to use 1/2 all purpose 1/2 whole wheat but for these muffins I choose to use 100% All Purpose Flour. All purpose has a much lighter texture insuring a good rise and lighter muffins.

Sugar

Sugar is our sweetener, you can substitute with a 1:1 ratio of Monk Fruit Sweetener or honey or maple syrup. If you use honey or maple syrup consider reducing the milk by 1/4 of a cup to make up for the added moisture.

I like to use organic cane sugar from Azure Standard. If you’ve never heard from azure standard before you should check our my Azure Standard Review to learn more.

Milk

I use rice milk or regular milk sometimes I even use just plain water. What ever type of milk you typically use will work for this recipe. If you use water use a little less, instead of 3/4 cup use 1/2 at first then add a tablespoon more if needed.

Eggs

Eggs are a bonding ingredient, they are very important to the texture of baked goods. We want our muffins to be soft with a little springy but not crumbly. Eggs also help with the raise, keeping the muffins from becoming dense.

Baking Soda and Baking Powder

This recipe calls for both baking soda and baking powder. Baking soda is activated as soon as it is mixed in so we want to add it in last. Baking powder is also activated at the mixing point but also has some agents in it that need heat to insure activation. By adding both of these raising agents we get a longer raise throughout the baking process giving us a fluffy muffins.

Spices

Our spices include cinnamon, nutmeg, 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!

Salt

Enhance the flavor with good salt like Redmond Real Salt. If you are looking for a unrefined natural salt with multiple minerals and electrolytes harvested in the United States of America, then look no further. Redmond Real Salt is full of flavor and nutrients and harvested out of the ancient seabed deep beneath Central Utah.

How To Make Pumpkin Muffins

Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees

Mix Wet Ingredients Together

In a large bowl mix together pumpkin, eggs, milk and whisk together.

Add Dry Ingredients

Add sugar first, then flour, spices, salt and your baking powder and baking soda. Mix all together until smooth. You can also mix all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl then add together but personally I like to use less dishes.

Spoon Batter Into Muffin Pan

Line your muffin pan or grease the inside and poor the batter in 3/4 of the way up. Sprinkle some sugar and cinnamon on the top if you like.

Bake

Bake for 20-22 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool a few minutes before enjoy the first bite!

Add Caramel or Maple Glaze

You can drizzle caramel syrup on your muffins as I did or you can make a very simple maple glaze with powdered sugar and maple syrup. Add 1/2 a cup of sugar to 1-2 teaspoon of syrup. Mix together and drizzle or dip your muffins.

Pumpkin Muffins

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Ingredients

• 2 Cups Pumpkin
• 3/4 Cups Milk
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 2 Cups Flour
• 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
• 1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg
• 1/2 Teaspoon All-Spice
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/4 Teaspoon Salt

Simple Maple Glaze

Toggle ingredient group

• 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup

Instructions

1. Mix wet ingredient together, pumpkin, egg and milk
2. Add dry ingredients starting with the sugar and ending with baking soda.
3. Spoon into a greased or lined muffin pan.
4. Bake for 20-22 minutes at 350 degrees
5. Let cool for a few minutes then remove gently from molds. Drizzle or dip into caramel syrup or a simple maple glaze and enjoy with a fresh glass of eggnog!

The post How To Make Pumpkin Muffins appeared first on Embracing The Home.

Ingredients For Pumpkin Donuts

Pumpkin

You can use canned pumpkin or fresh pumpkin for this recipe. I like to cook a pumpkin or two at the beginning of the fall season and freeze my pumpkin puree for all my pumpkin recipes throughout the festive months. If you are using a whole pumpkin check out my post on how to make pumpkin puree.

Flour

In most of my recipes I like to use 1/2 all purpose 1/2 whole wheat but for these donuts I choose to use 100% All Purpose Flour. All purpose has a much lighter texture insuring a good rise and lighter donut.

Sugar

Sugar is our sweetener, you can substitute with a 1:1 ratio of Monk Fruit Sweetener or honey or maple syrup. If you use honey or maple syrup consider reducing the milk by 1/4 of a cup to make up for the added moisture.

I like to use organic cane sugar from Azure Standard. If you’ve never heard from azure standard before you should check our my Azure Standard Review to learn more.

Milk

I use rice milk or regular milk sometimes I even use just plain water. What ever type of milk you typically use will work for this recipe. If you use water use a little less, instead of 3/4 cup use 1/2 at first then add a tablespoon more if needed.

Eggs

Eggs are a bonding ingredient, they are very important to the texture of baked goods. We want our donuts to be soft with a little springy but not crumbly. Eggs also help with the raise, keeping the donuts from becoming dense.

Baking Soda and Baking Powder

This recipe calls for both baking soda and baking powder. Baking soda is activated as soon as it is mixed in so we want to add it in last. Baking powder is also activated at the mixing point but also has some agents in it that need heat to insure activation. By adding both of these raising agents we get a longer raise throughout the baking process giving us a fluffy donut.

Spices

Our spices include cinnamon, nutmeg, 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!

Salt

Enhance the flavor with good salt like Redmond Real Salt. If you are looking for a unrefined natural salt with multiple minerals and electrolytes harvested in the United States of America, then look no further. Redmond Real Salt is full of flavor and nutrients and harvested out of the ancient seabed deep beneath Central Utah.

How To Make Pumpkin Donuts

Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees

Mix Wet Ingredients Together

In a large bowl mix together pumpkin, eggs, milk and whisk together.

Add Dry Ingredients

Add sugar first, then flour, spices, salt and your baking powder and baking soda. Mix all together until smooth. You can also mix all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl then add together but personally I like to use less dishes.

Spoon or Pipe Batter Into Donut Molds

With Silicone Donut Molds spoon or pipe your batter into. Using a piping bag goes a lot smoother, faster and cleaner but is not necessary.

Bake

Bake for 15-18 minutes at 350 degrees. I like to place my donuts molds on a baking sheet for easier transportation. Let cool a few minutes before taking them out of the molds

Add Caramel or Maple Glaze

You can drizzle caramel syrup on your donuts as I did or you can make a very simple maple glaze with powdered sugar and maple syrup. Add 1/2 a cup of sugar to 1-2 teaspoon of syrup. Mix together and drizzle or dip your donut.

Pumpkin Donuts

Yield: 18

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Ingredients

• 2 Cups Pumpkin
• 3/4 Cups Milk
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 2 Cups Flour
• 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
• 1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg
• 1/2 Teaspoon All-Spice
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/4 Teaspoon Salt

Simple Maple Glaze

Toggle ingredient group

• 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup

Instructions

1. Mix wet ingredient together, pumpkin, egg and milk
2. Add dry ingredients starting with the sugar and ending with baking soda.
3. Spoon or pipe into donut molds.
4. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees
5. Let cool for a few minutes then remove gently from molds. Drizzle or dip into caramel syrup or a simple maple glaze and enjoy with a fresh glass of eggnog!

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Aichoof Silicone Donut Mold for 6 Doughnuts, Set of 2. Food Grade LFGB Silicone Bagels Baking Pan, Non-Stick, Dishwasher Safe, Heat Resistant and Microwave Safe(Blue)

The post Pumpkin Baked Donuts (Healthy Fall Snacks) appeared first on Embracing The Home.

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.

The post How to Make Pumpkin Puree by Boiling appeared first on Embracing The Home.

Baking A Whole Pumpkin

In the fall we love collecting pumpkin for decorating, baking and carving. This year we where able to pick up 15 pumpkins from a local pumpkin field and my son has decorated every room in the house, including the bathroom with pumpkins! Slowing, I am baking 1 at a time in order to make delicious pumpkin pie, pumpkin breads, muffins, soups, scones… and so much more! With all these delicious recipes I’m also baking the seeds for a fun wholesome snack for the kids.

Ingredients for Pumpkin Spiced Seeds

Pumpkin Seeds

Fresh pumpkin seeds right out of the pumpkin! Pumpkin seeds are a great source of nutrition. They are rich in manganese, copper, magnesium, phosphorous, zinc and iron. These seeds also contain lots of fiber, protein and healthy fats.

Olive Oil

You can really use any oil of your liking. Avocado oil, coconut oil, olive oil, they all work. Although I will say not all oils are created equal so be wise in your baking and healthy choices and use the oil you find to the best.

Salt

Enhance the flavor with good salt like Redmond Real Salt. If you are looking for a unrefined natural salt with multiple minerals and electrolytes harvested in the United States of America, then look no further. Redmond Real Salt is full of flavor and nutrients and harvested out of the ancient seabed deep beneath Central Utah.

Cinnamon & All Spice

To add a little spice and flavor to our seeds we can add a little cinnamon and all spice. Although lightly salted is my favorite way to make pumpkin seeds I also like experimenting with different flavors and spices. The cinnamon and all spice made a fun change change of flavor that ended up being a great addition to our granola and trail mix.

Honey

Honey is my sweetener of choice when it comes to pumpkin seeds. When using sugar, the sugar doesn’t seem to stick to the seeds unless you melt it on the stove top first. You could do that when using sugar but I prefer to use the already liquid sweetener. Maple syrup would also be a great substitute.

How To Make Pumpkin Seeds

Gather the Seeds

Cut your pumpkin open and scrape out tall the guts including the seeds.

Rinse the Seeds

Place your seeds inside a colander or strainer and rinse off all the little pumpkin strings, bits and pieces.

Dry the Seeds

Dry your seeds on a towel. You can dry them quickly by damping them down with the towel or you can let them sit there and air dry for over 24 hours. Often I clean the seeds and set them aside till the next day while bake and puree the rest of the pumpkin.

Mix All the Ingredients Together

When the seeds are dry, add them to a bowl and add the oil, honey, salt and spices together.

Bake

Pour you pumpkin seeds on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 275 degree for 30 minutes. Let the seeds cool and enjoy your fun fall snack!

Pumpkin Spiced Seeds

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Print

Ingredients

• The seeds from 1 pumpkin
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon all spice
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Cut up your pumpkin and scrape all the seeds out, rinse them and dry them on a towel.
2. Mix all your ingredients, pumpkin seeds, honey, olive oil, cinnamon, all-spice and salt together in a bowl.
3. Pour you pumpkin seeds on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake at 275 degrees for 30 minutes.
4. Let cool and enjoy!

More Pumpkin Recipes!

The post How To Bake Pumpkin Spiced Seeds appeared first on Embracing The Home.

Ingredients for Coconut Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Puree

You can use canned pumpkin or fresh pumpkin for this pie. I like to cook a pumpkin or two at the beginning of the fall season and freeze my pumpkin puree for all my pumpkin recipes throughout the festive months. If you are using a whole pumpkin check out my post on how to make pumpkin puree.

Coconut Milk

I use Thai Kitchen canned unsweetened coconut milk. Not the cream, not the sweetened milk just the regular unsweetened milk. The coconut milk is the only ingredient in the filling to give us a coconut flavor. If you want the coconut flavor to be stronger I suggest putting 1/2 a cup of coconut flakes in your pie crust. This will give you the coconut flavor throughout the whole pie.

Sugar

Sugar is our sweetener, you can substitute with a 1:1 ratio of Monk Fruit Sweetener. I have never tired to substitute honey or maple syrup for this pumpkin pie recipe but I believe it could be done. If you do try consider reducing the milk by 1/4 of a cup to make up for the added moisture.

I like to use organic cane sugar from Azure Standard. If you’ve never heard from azure standard before you should check our my Azure Standard Review to learn more.

Eggs

Eggs are a binding agent in baking as well as adding a creamy texture from the rich egg yoke.

Spices

Our spices include cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger. 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

Salt

Enhance the flavor with good salt like Redmond Real Salt. If you are looking for a unrefined natural salt with multiple minerals and electrolytes harvested in the United States of America, then look no further. Redmond Real Salt is full of flavor and nutrients and harvested out of the ancient seabed deep beneath Central Utah.

Cornstarch/Flour

We don’t need much but just a little flour or cornstarch mixed in to our pie batter thickens our pie just enough to keep hold our pie together, especially when we cut into it.

How To Make Coconut Pumpkin Pie

Make a Pie Crust

With whatever pie crust you choose add 1/2 a cup of coconut flakes in the same time you add the flour. This will give our pie a more rounded coconut flavor.

Mix Wet Ingredients Together

In a bowl mix together the pumpkin, eggs, and coconut milk till smooth

Add Dry Ingredients

Then add the sugar, spices and cornstarch or flour. Mix until thoroughly combined.

Pour Into Prepared Pie Crust

In a 9 inch pie pan prepare you crust and then pour you coconut pumpkin filling into your unbaked prepared pie crust.

Bake

Bake at 400 degree for 10 minutes then reduce the heat to 350 for 35 minutes. I recommend placing a crust shield on at the same time you reduce the heat. The shield will protect the edge of your crust from burning while the center of the pie continues to cook.

Let Cool and Serve

Take the pie out of the oven when the middle no longer jiggles when the pie is moved. That is how you will know it is cooked all the way through. Let the pie cool for at least 1 hour, I’d personally give it 3 hours before cutting into it. Serve with homemade whipped cream or a fresh glass of eggnog and enjoy!

Coconut Pumpkin Pie

Yield: 1, 9 inch pie

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Additional Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 55 minutes

Print

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Cups Pumpkin Puree
• 3/4 Cup Coconut Milk
• 2 Eggs
• 3/4 Cup Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/2 Teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 Teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 Salt
• 2 Tablespoon Cornstarch or Flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flakes for pie crust

Instructions

1. Make your pie crust with 1/2 cup coconut flakes added in with the flour.
2. In a bowl mix together the pumpkin puree, eggs and coconut milk till smooth.
3. Add in the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt and cornstarch or flour to your pumpkin mixture and combined thoroughly.
4. Roll your crust out and place it in your 9 inch pie pan. Pour your pumpkin filling into your prepared pie pan.
5. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for 35 minutes. Use a pie crust shield half way into baking to keep the crust from burning.
6. Take out of the oven when the center of the pie is not longer jiggly. The pie filling may also start to crack and that is a sign that it is done. Let cool for at least 1 hour, 3 hours is best.
7. Serve with some fresh homemade whipped cream or a nice cup of eggnog and enjoy!

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

Thai Kitchen Organic Unsweetened Coconut Milk, 13.66 fl oz

Baker’s Angel Flake Coconut Sweetened 7 Ounce

The post Easy Coconut Pumpkin Pie Recipe appeared first on Embracing The Home.

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.

Can I make pumpkin puree without baking it?

The pumpkin must be cooked in order for it to puree. You can cook it either by baking the pumpkin or by boiling the pumpkin. To boil it you have to cut it in to smaller pieces and when baking you only have to cut it in half. I like to bake my pumpkins.

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: Preheat Oven

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees while you cut and gut your pumpkin.

Step Three: 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.

Step Four: Bake Your Pumpkin

Use a large baking sheet to place your pumpkins on cut side down. Add a little water to the bottom of the pan and Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour.

Step Five: Blend the Pumpkin

Once the pumpkin is done baking let it cool down at least enough to handle it. Use a large spoon to scoop out the inside of the pumpkin and add it to your Vitamix, blender or food processor. Blend on high until very smooth.

Step Six: 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.

Recipes With Pumpkin Puree!

Pumpkin Puree

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Additional Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Print

Ingredients

• Baking Pumpkin

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Cut the top of the pumpkin off and then cut it in half. Take all the seeds outs.
3. Place the pumpkin face down on a large baking sheet with around 1/2-1 inch of water.
4. Bake for 1 hours at 375 degrees.
5. Once baked, scoop the insides into your blender or food processor. Blend the pumpkin on high till it is a smooth puree. You might need to add a little water to the pumpkin if it is not blending.
6. Store in an air tight container in the fridge for 7-10 days or in the freezer for up to a year.

The post How To Make Pumpkin Puree From Scratch appeared first on Embracing The Home.