More Pumpkin Things

• How did it get to be nearly Thanksgiving?  I started this post, or at least the initial inspiration for this post, a year ago when it was just a few weeks away from Thanksgiving 2018.  And here we are.  A mere two-ish weeks away from Thanksgiving 2019.
• So, before everything turns to the Peppermint Things, I am going to sneak in a Pumpkin Thing.  And a Granola Thing, because in the years I've been writing this blog, how have I not shared a granola recipe???  It's so gloriously adaptable.  Make it your way and you have no excuse to skip breakfast.  It's healthy-ish.  Add milk and you've got a lovely cereal.  Add yogurt, a drizzle of honey, and some fruit and you have a Breakfast of Champions.  
• You can easily half this recipe as I initially made it to take to the neighborhood produce exchange that I never made it to.  Or just keep the amounts as is and gift everyone at your Thanksgiving dinner to a take home treat.
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Pumpkin Granola
Makes about 11 cups
Adapted from Nekisia Davis' Olive Oil & Maple Granola

6 cups rolled oats

1 cup pepitas

1 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup sliced almonds

1 1/2 cups unsweetened, shredded coconut

1 1/4 cup maple syrup

1 cup canola oil

1 cups packed dark brown sugar

1 cup pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

Kosher salt, a generous pinch

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, add rolled oats, pepitas, sunflower seeds, almonds, and coconut.  Mix well.  Gradually add maple syrup and canola oil.  Mix well to incorporate liquids into dry ingredients.  Once mixed, add brown sugar, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin pie spice (or your own combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and ginger).  Add salt to taste.

Split granola mixture between two parchment lined cookie sheets and bake on separate racks in oven.  Bake for 50-60 minutes.  Halfway through bake time, be sure to turn granola and rotate cookie sheets.  Remove from oven when granola is golden brown.  Allow to cool completely before storing in airtight containers.  Will last for at least two weeks.

The Season of the Pumpkin Things

Bless me, Father...it has been roughly two years since my last rant on pumpkin spice-flavored things.  I just scoured the blog to see how many posts I've written with recipes containing pumpkin.  In the nearly eight year history of this blog, there have been exactly four recipes with pumpkin.   Today I will bring you Number 5, but not before I go on another tiny rant.

Let me say that I am not anti-pumpkin.  I know I am very late to the Pumpkin Appreciation Society party.  I don't exactly understand the deep love that some have for pumpkin spice things.  Every year it seems that the grocery stores have yet another endcap full of items flavored with the squash, and some mixture of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves.  I'm not the only one who thinks the overabundance of pumpkin spiced things is a little over the top.  You can see for yourself in this article published on Eater last year.  I'm also sure that since this article was published, there have been even more pumpkin spice flavored foods created. 

Despite not understanding the obsession, my appreciation is true.  I just don't need a cabinet full of Pumpkin Spice Oreos, Pumpkin Spice Cheerios, Pumpkin Spice marshmallows in my hot chocolate, or Pumpkin Spice Creamer in my morning coffee.  Or Pumpkin Spice Eggnog...just because. 

But if you ask me what I think of a pumpkin bar with a spiced wafer crumb bottom and swirled with cream cheese?  Well...I will say, yes, please, and thank you...do you mind if I have two?  The cookie crumb will get even better the second day they're around (if they don't last that long...it's okay.)  I made these in an 8x8 inch pan, which I love.  It's manageable and still gives you enough to share if you feel like it.

I used my favorite Fall cookie here for the crumb.  If you're in the greater Philadelphia, PA area, I suggest running to the grocery store and picking up a box or two of Sweetzel's Spiced Wafers.  It's good to have family back East who send you your favorite Fall cookie.  If you don't have them, gingersnaps would work just as well.  You could also use graham crackers, but the spice in the crumb really makes these great.  You can happily and easily use canned pumpkin (be sure it's not pumpkin pie filling) or grab a sugar pie/pie pumpkin from the grocer's or the farmers market and make your own puree.  It's as easy as halving a pumpkin, scooping out the seeds, drizzling with some oil or butter, and roasting for 40 minutes in a hot oven.  I just find making my own so satisfying.  

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Bars

Makes one 8x8 inch pan

Cookie Crust

1 ¾ c spiced wafers cookie crumbs

6 tbsp butter

½ tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

Filling

¾ c sugar

4 tbsp flour

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 eggs

12 oz pumpkin puree

1 tbsp milk

For the crust: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. If using whole cookies, break them into pieces, put in a food processor and process until fine crumbs. Put in a bowl with sugar and salt and mix well. Melt butter on stovetop, then add butter to crumbs, mixing well. Line the pan with parchment, pour the crumbs into the pan, pressing down and into corners with a spatula until crust is evenly spread. Bake for 6 minutes, remove from oven, and allow to cool. Turn oven up to 375 degrees for baking bars.

For the filling: In a medium bowl, cream sugar, flour, and cream cheese. Mix until smooth and reserve about a half cup of the mixture to the side.  Add the pumpkin pie spice, eggs, and pumpkin puree, mixing until incorporated and smooth.  Pour batter into 8x8 pan and spread evenly. Mix milk with reserved cream cheese mixture until smooth.  Spoon sporadically onto batter and make swirl with the tip of a knife.

Bake until knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Approximately 45-50 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Once mostly cool, chill for at least 4 hours or longer. Remember to run a knife edge along inner edges of bars if you plan on removing from pan.

Did You Feel It?

There was a shift in the seasons recently.  That time of year when all things Summer--beach days, shorts, and backyard barbecues--is quietly packed up and set aside for the next 365 days.  You may have spied it in store aisles--heralded by the dominant color scheme of oranges, yellows, and deep umbers.  Yes...you know what I'm talking about...Pumpkin Spice Season.

Oh...you thought I was going to talk about Autumn?  Or even Back to School?  Nah...they seem to have fallen to the wayside over the past couple of years.  The shift of seasons is measured by the launch of the Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks.  And much like the push for Christmas seems to be earlier every year, Pumpkin Spice season seemed to arrive earlier too.  Didn't it happen before Labor Day?  In the still sweltering days of August?

Pumpkin Spice lattes, pumpkin spice cream oreos, pumpkin spice flavored coffee, pumpkin spice cream filled Twinkies, even pumpkin spice sparkling juice.  If you have a Trader Joe's in the neighborhood and receive their Fearless Flyer ad, you may have noticed in the latest edition that the first page featured pumpkin tortilla chips, and deeper within the issue there were SIX additional pages of pumpkin-this or pumpkin spice-that flavored foods.

It's pumpkin overload.  Now...don't get me wrong.  I'm not anti-pumpkin.  I will occasionally enjoy a slice of pumpkin pie.  I think pumpkin biscotti are pretty darn fabulous, and pumpkin gnocchi with butter and sage has a place in my recipe collection.  But the pumpkin spice everything--when is too much, too much?

Before we attempt to answer that question, let me sneak in a recipe for pumpkin scones.  Yes, there is spice in it.  To take it up another notch...there's even chocolate.  Enjoy the pumpkin for a few more weeks, because before you know it, Gingerbread and Peppermint seasons will soon be here.


Dark Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Scones
Makes 14-16 3 inch scones

2 1/2 cups flour
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
6 tbsp butter, chilled, in small cubes
1/3 cup milk or cream
2 eggs
1/2 cup 100% pure pumpkin
1/3 cup chopped dark chocolate, preferably 64% cocoa

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  In a large bowl, whisk all dry ingredients together and set aside.  In a small bowl, beat the milk and eggs.  Add the cubed butter to the dry ingredients, mix in with either two forks or a pastry cutter until you have a pebbly texture.  Mix in the eggs and milk.   Add pumpkin and chocolate pieces, mixing until well combined.  Scoop heaping teaspoons full onto cookie sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until bottoms are golden.  Transfer to a cooling rack.  

The glaze on the scones below is a quick melt of roughly a tablespoon of butter and 4-6 small squares of chocolate (an inch by half inch or so).  Melt butter over low heat, add chocolate, turn off heat, and stir until chocolate pieces melt.  Drizzle over scones.  The chocolate glaze will harden slightly.  These are also pretty awesome without the glaze.

Morning Glow

In the early hours of Sunday morning, we turned our clocks back from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time.  I've never thought much about how it affected me.  I lamented about losing that precious hour back in March and while I initially kind of missed the early darkness, having the long days grew on me.

For the last couple of months, I was having the worst time waking up in the mornings.  I always have my alarm clocks (a clock on my dresser and my old Blackberry) set for 6:00 a.m, even on the weekends.  The intention:  waking up to enjoy the quiet of the morning, maybe going out to a farmers market on the weekend, or the gym.  Even if I never made it out the front door, I could leisurely enjoy a cup of coffee, the morning news, and spend time with happily fed cats.  But day after day, I would hit that 'snooze' button...and hit it...and hit it.  Six a.m. turned into 7, turned into 7:45, turned into 8:30.  I'm always a little peeved with myself after sleeping in, feeling like I've already wasted too much of the day.

Well...four days in and I am up and out of bed by 7:00.  My internal clock is in tune with the start of The Today Show every morning.  Yes...I still hit the snooze button, but for two, not two dozen times.  I have even found myself waking up before the alarm goes off and before any cat comes to tell me it's time for breakfast.

My bedroom has north-facing windows, but I get a flicker of rising sun (from a bounce of light off the neighbour's window) in the morning.  Maybe it's the time of year, but there is a warm golden glow that slips through the curtains in the morning.  It's the kind of light that makes me want something warm and comfort food-ish for breakfast instead of a bowl of cereal or toast.  Since we're only a couple of weeks away from Thanksgiving, I almost feel obliged to make something with pumpkin.  I'm going to run with it.  Pumpkin is finally growing on me, though I find it a little bland.  Is this normal?  Is it really everything else in a pumpkin pie that makes people mad-crazy for it?  There's still half a can left, so rest assured, I'll be making more pumpkin-centric foods over the next couple of days.

I went with a dish that I've been coming across pretty frequently on blogs and Pinterest.  Baked oatmeal.  No fancy ingredients.  Spices that you probably already have in your pantry.  Not a lot of time needed to bake.  The kind of dish that tastes indulgent and feels like you spent more time on it than you actually did.  This isn't the kind of dish you need to wait until the weekend to make.  It is for all these reasons and because baked oatmeal is just so good, that you need to make this.

 Baked Oatmeal with Pumpkin and Maple Creme Fraiche
Adapted from a recipe on Egginon
Serves 2 

1 cup quick oats
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp five spice powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
pinch of salt
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup pumpkin 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, combine the oats, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and five spice.  In a small bowl, combine the milk, egg, vanilla, and pumpkin and whisk until fully mixed.  Add wet ingredients to dry and mix well.  

Pour batter into a oven-proof baking dish (I used a 5x7 shallow baking dish) and bake for 25 minutes.  Serve while still quite warm.

Maple Creme Fraiche
Makes 1/4 cup

1/4 cup creme fraiche
1 Tbsp maple syrup

Gently whisk the syrup with the creme fraiche and spoon over baked oatmeal right before serving.  If you don't have creme fraiche, you can easily swap out plain or vanilla yogurt mixed with the maple syrup or drizzle maple syrup directly over the oatmeal.  The creme fraiche just tips the scales into indulgent.  

Lucky in the morning light.

'Tis the Season, Part Two

[Note:  I started writing this post yesterday, hence the 'Thanksgiving Eve' mention.  I'm letting it be.  To everyone out there...Have a beautiful Thanksgiving, full of too  much food and thankful to be surrounded by family and friends.]

 Here we are on Thanksgiving Eve where people are busy preparing for one of the biggest eating holidays of the year, if not the biggest.  The good china is coming out for the table, people are fighting the craziness of the grocery stores, and kitchens are Command Central for the festivities.

I am not making dinner for Thanksgiving, but I am responsible for bringing appetizers for thirteen, which is an infinitely easier task than dinner.  There's a good chance that during this holiday season, I will make a turkey breast so I can have my own cache of leftovers and make stock.  But before any of that happens, let's go back a couple of weeks to my last post.  It was all about the pumpkin and I warned you that there would probably be another pumpkin post because I still had pumpkin to use.  This is that post.

I made gnocchi once before and for a first attempt it was a little disappointing.  They were heavy little lumps of dough that tasted okay, but beyond that...well, I wasn't happy.  So this time around, instead of using regular all purpose flour I used '00' flour.  A much better choice.  They were hearty without being heavy.  Serving pumpkin gnocchi in a brown butter and sage sauce?  The best choice.

Pumpkin Gnocchi in Brown Butter and Sage Sauce
(Adapted from this recipe)
Serves 2-4

1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 cups '00' flour  (plus extra for rolling out)
1 egg
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp sage, chopped

In a bowl, mix the pumpkin, flour, egg, nutmeg, salt and pepper.  With a fork, bring all the ingredients together to give you a sticky, but not overly wet dough.  Add a little more flour by the tablespoon if you need to.  

Working in small portion, roll each piece of dough out into a hotdog shaped log, about 12 inches long.  With a knife or dough scraper, cut the dough into little pillow shapes about and inch long.  On the cut side, press down with the tines of a fork to form ridges and give you that slightly oval shape.  Spread gnocchi on a flour dusted pan until you work through all your dough.

In a pot, bring salted water to a boil and add enough gnocchi, but don't crowd the pot.  The gnocchi will cook within 3-5 minutes and they'll float to the top when they're done.  In a skillet, add the butter and melt over medium high heat.  Allow it to foam and begin to brown.  When little brown bits form and it smells nutty, add the sage.  Let the sage crisp for about 20 seconds, turn off the heat then add the gnocchi.  Mix to coat the pasta and serve.

'Tis the Season

No, no...don't worry...the tree isn't up, the ornaments and lights are still in their boxes, and there isn't a strip of tinsel to be found anywhere here yet.  It's coming though, faster than you may think.  Thanksgiving is a mere two weeks away and I had already seen the Christmas decorations vying for space right next to the Halloween candy and costumes at Target.  I'm talking about that other indicator of the season, whether you call it the Fall Season or the Thanksgiving Season...I'm talking about pumpkin.

All over the internet, on Pinterest, and in the blogs I read, I've seen recipes with pumpkin--pumpkin roll, pumpkin donut holes, spiced pumpkin muffins, pumpkin- filled ravioli, the traditional pumpkin pie and loads more.  The Pumpkin Spice Latte has been back at Starbucks for at least a month.  So I decided to throw my hat into the ring and submit my take on a pumpkin something or other.  My pumpkin treat for today is pumpkin biscotti, because in my world, there is no such thing as too much biscotti.  I have to give this one to Kenny, lover of all things pumpkin, for giving me the idea to make these.  I definitely owe him a dozen of these cookies.

Being a relative newcomer to the Pumpkin Appreciation Society, I'm impressed with all the ways you can use pumpkin in recipes.  A word of warning, I still have pumpkin puree to use, so sooner rather than later, you just might see another pumpkin recipe here.  But for now, sit down with a cup of coffee, gather your energy for the upcoming hustle and bustle of the holidays, and have a cookie or two.

Pumpkin Biscotti
Adapted from Alice Waters' Anise Almond Biscotti recipe
Makes about 36-40 cookies

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
3 eggs, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin 

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment.  In a small bowl, add the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon.  Whisk to mix well.  In another bowl, add the sugar and eggs.  With either a whisk or electric mixer, whisk until pale yellow in colour and light in texture.  Add in the pumpkin and mix well.  Gradually add the flour mixture and stir to combine.  When the dough is mixed, turn out onto a floured board and split into two portions.  Form each portion into a loaf about 12-14 inches long and 2 to 3 inches wide.  Place about 3 inches apart on the cookie sheet and bake for 25 minutes or until bottoms are golden brown.
  
Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.  Turn oven temperature down to 300 degrees.  Cut loaves into half inch slices and place face down on the cookie sheet.  Leave a little space in between each cookie.  (You may end up needing another cookie sheet for this or doing this in two steps.)  Bake again for another 25-30 minutes, turning the cookies over half way through the baking time.  Remove and cool on baking sheet.