Day 26 :: Bake Something with Pumpkin

It’s fall.  The season for mums, pumpkins, sweaters, snuggling with your honey, and soup  {not necessarily in that order}.  And this morning when I got up it actually felt like fall.  Our house is currently 65 degrees, so I had to turn on the heat.  Those little babies upstairs need some warmth!

One way to thrive?  Get in your kitchen and bake something.  Since it’s fall, bake something with pumpkin.  Using one can of pumpkin you can make both of the recipes below.  If you don’t like pumpkin, certainly someone you know does, so take a loaf of bread to them, or wrap a few scones and deliver them to your neighbor.

Givers and receivers can both thrive!

Go, turn on your oven.  It’s pumpkin time.

Quick Pumpkin Bread

1 cup pumpkin
2 eggs
1 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon {original recipe calls for 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice}
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Craisins {optional.  You could also add 1/2 cup of any of the following:  chocolate chips, pecans, walnuts, raisins, white chocolate chips}

Combine pumpkin, eggs, butter, sour cream and vanilla in a mixing bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients.  Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture.  Stir in Craisins.  Bake in a greased 9×5-inch loaf pan at 350F for one hour.  

Pumpkin Scones

2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon {original recipe calls for 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice}
1 stick cold butter, cubed
2/3 cup pumpkin
3/4 cup half and half*
1/2 cup chocolate chips, optional

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon in a medium sized mixing bowl.  Cut in butter with a pastry blender.  In a small bowl combine pumpkin and half and half.  Stir pumpkin mixture into flour mixture until  combined.  Stir in chocolate chips, if desired.

Pat into an 8-inch square on a floured surface, then cut into 16 triangles.  Transfer to a baking sheet and bake at 400F for 20 minutes.

*I used 3/4 cup cream, as recipe calls for, and the dough was too moist.  I had to keep adding flour to my surface just to pat the dough out into a square.  I would recommend trying 1/4 cream at first and see if that would suffice.  

source:  Food Network, October, 2013

For a list of all posts in this series go here.