Category Archives: pumpkin puree

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies – Low Sugar!

Hi, my name is Austyn and I have a baking addiction.  No big deal.  I love all things pumpkin, and it just so happened that I had some leftover in the fridge that was about to go bad, so I HAD to use it to make cookies, right?  No choice.  Anywho, I found a pretty healthy recipe that only had 1/2 cup of sugar, so I whipped up a quick batch.  They may or may not have ALL gotten eaten within 5 hours.  Okay, there are 5 left.  But still…they are pretty delish (I heard if you shorten words like that it is cool.  That’s what a teenager told me).

So here is the recipe, straight from Super Healthy Kids (love that blog!)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

  • 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 cup pureed pumpkin
  • 2 TBL canola oil
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • Chocolate chips optional (umm…yes please)

Combined all ingredients. Drop by Tablespoonfull onto sprayed cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Makes 24 cookies, or 2 dozen.  But if you are like me, then you never ever get the right amount of cookies out of the recipe.  I think I got 18.  I guess I make ‘em too big.  Enjoy enjoy!

Creamy Pumpkin Pasta

When I think of eating pumpkin, I think of something sweet like pie, muffins, bread, donuts or waffles.  I’ve never really wanted to try pumpkin soup or other pumpkin flavored meals.  But when I saw this recipe for this pasta, I had to try it.  And it just so happens that I had my freshly made pumpkin puree so it worked out perfectly.  Glad I did it because it was delicioso.  I tried it without the sausage, but I’m sure it adds a nice flavor.

Creamy Pumpkin Pasta

  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 pound package of Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage (removed from its casing)
  • 2/3 cup to 2 cups pumpkin puree (depending on your personal taste)
  • 1 can chicken broth (I used homemade ice cube broth)
  • ¼ cup half & half
  • ½ cup sour cream (low-fat or fat free)
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp white pepper
  • 1 tsp sage
  • 2 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
  • ¼ cup Romano Cheese, shredded
  • 1 pound pasta

In a large skillet sauté the garlic in the olive oil on medium heat. Add the turkey sausage and cook until no longer pink, breaking the meat up with your spoon as you cook it. Remove from  skillet. Pour the chicken broth into the skillet. Whisk in the half and half, sour cream, pumpkin, and seasonings. Simmer for ten minutes. Meanwhile, boil the pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain pasta and stir into the pumpkin mixture along with the turkey sausage, simmering for another three minutes or until the sauce thickens. Stir in parsley and garnish with Romano and more parsley.

Consensus: 

The Mr.: Loved it

Me: A little too much parsley for my taste, but otherwise YUM.

The Wild One: Did not touch it, so I made him take 2 bites before he got down.  I said “Isn’t it YUMMY?” He said, “yescanIgoplaywithmycars?”  ok then.

Tornado:  Call him a turkey cause he gobble gobbled it down in .2 seconds.  How’s that for some Thanksgiving humor?

I’m trying out more pumpkin recipes soon so stay tuned!!

Leftover Pumpkin Money-Saver

I’m allll about saving money these days, plus there’s not many things more painful to me than throwing away food that went bad just because of my poor planning.   So I was looking around the house today at all our painted pumpkins thinking they were getting old, and I decided to find a way to use them.  So I chopped em up, baked em, and made some pumpkin puree to use for some recipes this week.

Several years ago I tried to make a homemade pumpkin pie from scratch.  I was successful but it literally took half a day.  When I made pumpkin puree that time, I baked the whole pumpkin and tried scoop out the meat of it while it was burning my fingers, but as it turns out there is a much easier way.   I’ve read that you should only use medium sized pumpkins for puree, and that the Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins don’t taste as good. But I have a big one that I am going to try tomorrow and see…

Here’s my pumpkins…(and The Wild One’s).  By the way, do you think that paint seeped into the pumpkin?   Is it toxic?  oh well… 

Just wash and dry them, then chop off the tops. 

The one with green in it didn’t turn out very good.  Guess it wasn’t totally ripe.

Then cut them into quarters and seed them, and put them on a cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes (just stick a fork in it and if it slides in easily, it’s ready).

The skin peels off really easily after that.  Dump it in the food processor.

Viola!  Pumpkin puree!!  From recycled pumpkins!!

I used this to make a creamy pumpkin pasta, and I will post the recipe tomorrow.  mmmmm… I LOVE Autumn.

I randomly heard a gardening show on the radio this weekend and the host said that winter squashes (pumpkins, butternut, spaghetti, acorn) got their name not because they are harvested in the winter, but because they will last all winter long.  Is that true??  Can I stock up on squash and keep them in my pantry for  several months?  It makes me curious.  Maybe I’ll do an experiment.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!!  Pics tomorrow…