Pumpkin Puree – Page 2 – Bead Yarn & Spatula

Pumpkin-Brownie Swirl Pie

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend filled with love and laughter amongst family and friends and of course some delicious food! My Thanksgiving was good and while there was plenty of scrumptious food to be had there was also plenty of yummy desserts… Including this Pumpkin-Brownie Swirl Pie.

To begin, I made the brownie batter portion of the pie by melting a stick of unsalted butter and a 12-ounce bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips along with light brown sugar over medium heat in a saucepan. Once the butter and chocolate were melted I removed the saucepan from the heat and whisked in two eggs and vanilla extract. In a medium bowl I whisked together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt and then added this flour mixture to the chocolate mixture and whisked it until the both were combined and smooth.

Following that I transferred the brownie batter into a measuring cup to ensure that I would pour the right amount – a third of the batter – into the prepared pie plate.

While the brownie was baking in the oven I made the pumpkin filling by whisking together pumpkin puree, heavy cream, an egg, granulated sugar, flour, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a medium bowl until it was smooth.

By the time I was done with the pumpkin filling the brownie was ready to come out of the oven.

I immediately poured the pumpkin filling over the brownie. I stirred a tablespoon of water to the remaining brownie batter and then spooned the batter onto the pumpkin filling. Using the back of the spoon I then pulled the batter into the filling.

After baking for about 40 minutes in a 350 F preheated oven the Pumpkin-Brownie Swirl Pie was ready to come out. Unfortunately it did end up cracking a bit but luckily it didn’t affect the flavor one bit!

Pumpkin and chocolate is definitely a winning combination! The sweetness of the brownie is such a nice complement to the mellow taste of pumpkin spiced with pumpkin pie spice (a combination of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg & allspice.) I took half of this pie to a friend’s house for dessert and one of the guests commented that I needed to go home and get the other half. You can’t beat a complement like that!

Pumpkin-Brownie Swirl Pie

Ingredients:

For the Brownie Filling:

1 stick unsalted butter, plus more for the pie plate

1 12-ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Pumpkin Filling:

1 cup pure pumpkin puree

1 cup heavy cream

1 large egg

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter the bottom and side of a 9 1/2 – inch deep-dish pie plate. Make the brownie filling; Heat the butter, chocolate chips and brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until the butter and chocolate are melted. Remove from the heat. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla, whisking until smooth. Whisk in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt until combined.

2. Pour about one-third of the brownie batter into the prepared pie plate; set aside the remaining batter. Bake until just starting to set and the top is shiny, about 20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, make the pumpkin filling: Combine the pumpkin puree, heavy cream, egg, granulated sugar, flour, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a medium bowl; whisk until smooth.

4. Pour the pumpkin filling over the warm brownie layer. Stir 1 tablespoon water into the remaining brownie batter, then spoon the batter (in about 6 scoops) onto the pumpkin filling. Use the back of the spoon to pull the brownie batter into the pumpkin filling and create a swirled pattern. Bake until the pie is set, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely.

Pumpkin-Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies

I hope you are all not tired of my pumpkin recipe posts because I have one more for you today. I kicked off Fall by making Pumpkin Doughnuts and Pumpkin Rice Pudding and just last week I posted about my experience making Homemade Pumpkin Puree – and some of the subsequent treats I made from it – and today I am bringing you Pumpkin-Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies. To be honest these cookies weren’t entirely for me. I have a dear friend who is just as much of a pumpkin fan as I am – I told her about Chobani’s Pumpkin Spice Yogurt and she told me about Pumpkin Spice English Muffins (which I am yet to find) and Pumpkin Spice Oreo’s (not worth trying according to her) – so for her birthday I decided to bake up a pumpkin treat to send her. (I sent her Pumpkin Doughnuts last year so I wanted to go with something new this year.) Unfortunately my pictures for the cookies aren’t the best as rainy cloudy days don’t lend for great picture taking!

I began making the dough for the cookies by whisking together the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl: flour, quick oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.

In a larger bowl I creamed together softened butter with light-brown sugar and granulated sugar. I was concerned that these cookies would be super sweet since the total amount of sugar was 2 cups, but thankfully the sweetness was toned down due to the addition of the pumpkin puree which doesn’t have much sweetness to it.

Next, I whipped in an egg, vanilla extract and the pumpkin puree to the butter mixture, mixing well after each addition.

With the mixer on the lowest setting, I gradually added the flour mixture to the butter mixture until both were combined. I then folded in chocolate chips with a spatula.

After letting the dough rest for 10 minutes – which allows the oats to absorb the liquids from the dough so the cookies won’t spread out as much while baking – I then used a cookie scoop to scoop the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet and placed the cookies in a 350 F preheated oven for 12 minutes.

I let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

In total I ended up with a little over 4 dozen cookies. Which was perfect since it meant I could keep some for myself! These cookies are all-around delish! You get a slight taste of pumpkin and the flavors of cinnamon really shine through which is a nice complement to the chocolate chips. And if you like your cookies super-soft then these are for you… They are borderline soft/cakey.

Pumpkin-Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 4 Dozen

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups quick oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/3 cups packed light-brown sugar

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin puree

1 3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger for 30 seconds, set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until creamy (occasionally stop and scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl throughout entire mixing process.) Blend in egg then blend in vanilla extract and pumpkin puree. With mixer set on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until combined. Mix in chocolate chips and nuts (if using). Let batter rest 5-10 minutes (this just gives the oats some time to absorb the liquids so batter isn’t so sticky and cookies don’t spread so much.)

3. Scoop dough of 2 tbsp. at a time and drop onto Silpat or parchment paper lines baking sheets, spacing cookies 2-inches apart. Bake in preheated oven 12-14 minutes. Allow to cool on baking sheet several minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Homemade Pumpkin Puree

While at the supermarket a few weeks ago I came across sugar pumpkins on sale, I thought for a second or two of buying them and making my own pumpkin puree but it was just a fleeting thought at the moment and I stuck with the list of items I had in hand. Once I got home though I was curious as to how difficult it would be to turn those small pumpkins into puree and I was pleasantly surprised at how simple it would be, well, minus the elbow grease and patience. So, a few days later I picked up two pumpkins and got to work.

I began by slicing the top of the pumpkin off. I should say I sawed it off as I did mention it required some elbow grease.

Next, I sliced the pumpkin in half. This was by far the most difficult part. Since my knives were sharpened I probably just need some refresher tips on knife skills.

And then scooped out all of the seeds and pulp.

Following that I sliced the halves into halves – or simply put I cut the pumpkin into quarters. I then repeated these steps with the second pumpkin and placed all of the quarters on a baking sheet.

I roasted the pumpkin in a 350 F preheated oven for just shy of an hour until the pieces were fork tender. And I must say the smell of pumpkin in my house was heaven during that hour.

After letting the pieces cool for a few minutes I was easily able to remove the skin from the pumpkin.

And then it was time for the simplest part – well besides roasting the pumpkin – to making the puree, the blending. I put a few pieces at a time in the bowl of my food processor and added a few tablespoons of water to help the process along.

All in all I ended up with about 8 cups of fresh pumpkin puree.

I refrigerated half of it and froze the other half in sandwich bags – putting a cup of puree in each of the bags.

And since I didn’t want that refrigerated puree to go bad I was quick to whip up some delicious treats with it.

There was pumpkin pie, which I must say definitely had a much richer taste with the fresh puree.

Pumpkin Ravioli using wonton wrappers…

And my favorite, a homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte. I usually get one or two of these during the Fall at Starbucks but the coffee flavor is such a turn off for me since I am not a coffee drinker that being able to make this at home and control the coffee amount was perfect!

Pumpkin Ravioli – Adapted from here and here

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh (or canned) pumpkin puree

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 shallot minced

3 tablespoons heavy cream

1/3 cup parmesan cheese grated

pinch of nutmeg

salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the shallots and sauté for 1 minute.

2. Add the pumpkin and cook until the pumpkin has absorbed the butter.

3. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the cream.

4. Remove from the heat and add in the cheese and nutmeg and stir until both are incorporated.

Pumpkin Spice Latte – Recipe from October 2014 Food Network Magazine

Ingredients:

3 tbsp. sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons pumpkin puree

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

heaping 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

heaping 1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 1/4 cup milk (I used whole milk)

1/4 cup espresso (or strong brewed coffee)

whipped cream, for topping

Directions:

1. Combine the sugar, pumpkin puree, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg in a small saucepan.

2. Whisk in milk and espresso and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.

3. Pour into 2 mugs and top with whipped cream and more nutmeg.

If you would like a more detailed description of how to make you own pumpkin puree check-out the directions I followed here from the Pioneer Woman’s (Ree Drummond) website.

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