Maple Roasted Pumpkin Salad

Ingredients:

1/4 cup pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds)
One 3 1/2 to 4-pound sugar pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
5 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
coarse salt and black pepper
2 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup, divided
3 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 1/2-pounds arugula (2 to 3 bunches, thick stems removed), washed and dried  (I used fresh baby spinach)
6 ounces feta cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Spread pepitas on a large rimmed baking sheet; toast in oven, tossing occasionally, until fragrant and beginning to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Set aside.

2. On a large, rimmed baking sheet, toss pumpkin with 2 Tablespoons oil, garlic, red pepper, salt and black pepper. Roast, tossing occasionally, until pumpkin is tender, 25 to 30 minutes.

3. Remove garlic cloves from sheet pan; set aside. Drizzle pumpkin with 2 Tablespoons maple syrup; toss to coat. Return to oven and continue roasting, tossing occasionally, until pumpkin is glazed, 5 to 10 minutes more; let cool.

4. Meanwhile, cut off root ends of garlic cloves; squeeze out garlic and mash to a paste with the side of a knife. Transfer to a large bowl. Add lime juice, mustard, and remaining maple syrup; season with salt and pepper. Whisking constantly, add remaining oil in a steady stream; set aside.

5. Add arugula and pumpkin and toss to combine. Serve salad sprinkled with toasted pepitas and crumbled feta cheese.

Photo and recipe from The Recipe Girl

Pumpkin Apple Harvest Cake

Pumpkin Apple Harvest Cake
By Cait Johnson, author of Witch in the Kitchen

INGREDIENTS

1 cup cooked or canned pumpkin puree
2 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup organic sugar
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped apple
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Whipped cream or confectioners’ sugar for topping (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Prepare an 8-inch round cake pan by greasing and flouring it.
2. Combine pumpkin, eggs, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add flour, cinnamon, baking powder, ginger, and salt, stirring to combine. Add apples and nuts, stirring again. Pour mixture into prepared pan.
3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
4. Cool the cake, still in the pan, on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert the cake onto the rack, remove pan, and cool cake completely.
5. When ready to serve, turn cake on to a pretty plate and top with whipped cream or confectioners’ sugar, if desired, or serve plain.

Pumpkin Biscuits with Orange-Honey Butter

Ingredients:

2 c. flour
3 T. sugar
2 tsp. bkg. Powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. bkg. Soda
½ tsp. salt
¼ c. butter, chilledand cut in small pieces
¾ c. fat-free buttermilk
½ c. pumpkin



Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour and next 6 ingredients (through nutmeg); cut in chilled butter with pastry blender until mixture is a coarse meal. Combine buttermilk and pumpkin; add to flour mix, stirring until just moist. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 5 times. Roll to ½ inch thickness. Cut into 12 biscuits with 2 ½ inch cutter.



Place close together on sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 450 degrees for 11 minutes or until golden. Serve with Orange-Honey butter.

Orange-Honey Butter
½ c. butter, softened
½ c. honey
½ tsp. grated orange rind

Combine in bowl and beat with mixer at medium speed until well blended.

PROSCIUTTO, PUMPKIN AND BOCCONCINI PIZZA

1 pre-made pizza crust (or your own)
1/2 lb. pumpkin, peeled and cubed
1/4 c. tomato sauce
2 oz. bocconcini cheese (or substitute goat cheese, feta, etc)
4 slices prosciutto, roughly torn
1 1/2 c. arugula leaves, roughly torn
6-8 small basil leaves, roughly torn
1 tsp. red wine vinegar

1. Make pizza dough, then leave to rise (if making own)
2. Cook pumpkin at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, or until tender
3. Spread dough onto floured surface, roll into circle, then place on baking tray
4. Top dough with tomato sauce, then add pumpkin, cheese, prosciutto, and basil
5. Bake pizza at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until dough is crisp. (time will depend on individual oven)
6. Toss arugula in vinegar then serve with pizza, or on top of slices

Sweet Potato Waffles

1 1/2 cups peeled and cubed sweet potatoes (I used canned pumpkin)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 egg whites, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
Vegetable spray, for waffle iron

Special equipment: steamer basket and waffle iron

Put cubed sweet potatoes in a steamer basket. Place the basket in a large pot of simmering water that is no closer than 2 inches from the bottom of steamer. Allow potatoes to steam for 20 minutes of until fork tender. Mash cooked potatoes and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In another bowl combine the sweet potatoes, milk, brown sugar, butter, and grated orange rind. Stir the sweet potato mixture into the flour mixture and thoroughly combine. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gradually fold egg whites into batter 1/3 at a time. The batter will be thick. Using a No. 20 disher (scoop), place 2 scoops of batter onto a preheated, oiled waffle iron, and cook until lightly browned, about 5 to 6 minutes.

*My friend Spring gave me this recipe. It is from Alton Brown. I used canned pumpkin and they were oh so yummy! Here is a recipe for Lemon Pie to use up the egg yolks.

Non-Dairy, Low Fat Pumpkin Pie

1 16-oz package Silken Lite Firm Tofu
2 cups canned pumpkin
2/3 cup honey or agave nectar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 T Pumpkin pie spice
OR
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 unbaked 9" pastry crust

Drain tofu and blend in a food processor or blender until smooth. Add remaining ingredients; blend well. Pour into unbaked pie crust. Bake in preheated 350F oven for about 1 hour. Filling will be soft, but will firm as it cools. Chill and serve.

(I was so excited to try this recipe and even more excited with the results! It really is very similar to pumpkin pie, just much lighter. I am so excited to make this for my dad, since he is allergic to eggs and hasn't had pumpkin pie for over 30 years!)

Don't be intimidated by the title of this recipe. It really is super delicious!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Take the seeds from your pumpkin. You don't have to rinse them, and its okay to leave some of the pulp and strings, it justs adds flavor. Lay them out on a cookie sheet. Spray them with PAM and sprinkle salt, garlic salt, or even seasoning salt on them. Bake at 350 for about 1/2 hour or until they are golden brown.

Crumble-Top Pumpkin Muffins

Hot from-the-oven, these streusel-topped pumpkin muffins are scrumptious.
Estimated Times: Preparation - 25 min Cooking - 16 min Yields - 24 muffins (2 dozen)
Ingredients:
4 cups all-purpose baking mix (Bisquick)

1 cup raisins or chocolate chips, (optional )

2/3 cup quick or old-fashioned oats

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 can (30 oz.) pumpkin pie mix

2 large eggs (or 3 medium eggs)

Streusel topping:
COMBINE 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 3 tablespoons granulated sugar and 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon in small bowl. Cut in 2 tablespoons butter with pastry blender or two knives until mixture is crumbly.Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 400° F. Paper-line or grease 24 muffin cups.
COMBINE baking mix, raisins, oats, sugar and cinnamon in large bowl. Combine pumpkin pie mix and eggs in medium bowl; mix well. Stir into oat mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling 3/4 full. Sprinkle with Streusel Topping.
BAKE for 14 to 16 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pans to wire rack; cool slightly.
Serve warm.

(Chrsitine made these for book club and they were SCRUMPTIOUS!!)

Luscious Four-Layer Pumpkin Cake

1 pkg yellow cake mix (2-layer size)
1 can (15oz) pumpkin, divided
1/2 cup milk
1/3 oil
4 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice, divided
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tub (8oz) cool whip, thawed
1/4 cup caramel topping
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. Beat cake mix, 1 cup of the pumpkin, the milk, oil, eggs and 1 tsp of the pumpkin pie spice in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Pour evenly into prepared pans.

Bake 28 to 30 min. or until wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 min. Remove from pans to wire racks; cool completely. Beat cream cheese in small bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. Add sugar, remaining pumpkin and remaining 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice; mix well. Stir in cool whip.

Cut each cake layer horizontally in half with serrated knife. Stack layers on serving plate, spreading the cream cheese filling between layers. (Do not frost top of cake) Drizzle cake with caramel topping just before serving; sprinkle with pecans. Store leftover cake in refrigerator.

Helpful Hint: Cutting cakes into even layers is so easy when you place toothpicks around the cake as a guide. Then use serrated knife and cut in a gentle sawing motion.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust:
Mix the following, then press into bottom of spring form pan
1 c. crushed graham crackers
3 T. butter, melted
2 T. sugar

Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees, cool on rack

Filling:
16 ounces (2 bars) cream cheese, softened- cream together first on medium speed
1 ¼ c. sugar- add slowly, scrape bowl often

Then add the following on low speed:
¾ c. sour cream
16 ounces pumpkin (one can)
2 T. vanilla
1 t. cinnamon
½ tsp. allspice
¼ tsp. salt
4 eggs- one at a time, just until blended

Wrap foil around the bottom of pan to ‘seal’ the crack around the bottom. Pour the pumpkin into the pan. Set into roast pan (for water bath) and pour boiling water up to 1 inch deep. (Skip this step if baking in steam oven) Bake 1 hour 10 minutes or until the center barely jiggles.

Remove from water bath, spread the topping on, then return to water bath and bake 5 more minutes.

Topping:
1 c. sour cream
3 T. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Chill on wire rack. Discard foil and loosen the sides of pan and use knife to prevent cracking the cake. Cool completely. Chill 6 hours in fridge. Serve with fresh whipped cream. Enjoy- you WON'T be disappointed!

Chocolate Pumpkin Marble Cake

1 ½ c. butter, room temp.
3 c. sugar
6 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 ¼ c. canned pumpkin
2 ¾ c. flour
2 tsp. bkg. Powder
1/8 tsp. cloves
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
¾ c. unswt. cocoa
2/3 c. buttermilk


1. In large bowl beat butter and sugar on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in vanilla. Scrape half of mixture into another bowl.
2. Beat pumpkin into half of the butter mixture until well blended. With a spatula, add 1 ¾ cups flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, ½ tsp. salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves. Fold in until just blended.
3. In another bowl, mix the remaining 1 c. flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, ½ tsp. salt, ¾ cups unsweetened cocoa powder. Add flour mix alternating with the buttermilk to the other half of the butter mixture (starting and ending with flour mix), beating after each addition until just blended.
4. Spoon half of the pumpkin batter into a buttered and floured bundt pan. Drop half the chocolate batter by spoonfuls over (but not completely covering) the pumpkin batter. Repeat to spoon the remaining pumpkin and chocolate batters into the pan. Gently run the blade of a butter knife around the center of the pan several times and then draw the knife across the width of the pan in 12 places to make swirl pattern.
5. Bake 350 degrees 50-60 min. Remove when skewer comes out with a few moist crumbs on it. Let cake cool 10 minutes in pan, then invert onto rack and cool completely.
6. Pour chocolate glaze over top letting it drip down sides. Let stand until set, about 2 hours or chill for 30 minutes.


Chocolate Glaze

4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
½ c. whipping cream
1 T. butter
1 tsp. corn syrup
Bring 2 inches of water to a boil in a pan (or double boiler) and place chocolate mix on top. Stir occasionally
until melted and smooth.

This cake is SOOOO worth all of the work involved! So moist and tasty we love it!

Streusel Pumpkin Pie

Pie crust:
1 1/4 c. flour
1/2 t. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. butter, chilled
1/2 c. water, chilled

Mix dry ingredients. Blend butter in with pastry blender until fine meal. Add water tablespoon at a time until right consistency- not too sticky, not too dry. Roll between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Remove one and lay crust into pie plate. Press against edges and remove plastic. Poke with fork all over. Flute the edges.

Pie filling:
1 15 oz.can pumpkin
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
12 oz. can evaporated milk
1/2 tsp. ginger
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/4 tsp. cloves

Mix in a bowl then pour into pie crust. (This recipe is for a deep dish pie plate. If you do not have one, you can either pour the excess into individual ramekins or make another smaller pie) Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Cover edges of crust with foil.

Streusel:
1/2 c. chopped pecans
1 Tbls. Plain flour
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1 Tbls. Melted butter

Reduce oven to 350. Sprinkle streusel on top of pie leaving 2 inch opening in center. Replace foil on edges of pie. Bake 40-50 minutes, removing foil for the last 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven when knife comes out clean. Cool at least 30 minutes. Serve with fresh whipped cream.

Pumpkin Cookies

Cream together:
1 c. butter
1 c. sugar

Add and mix well:
1 c. cooked pumpkin
1 egg
1 tsp. vanillla

Sift together and add to above mixture:
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. allspice

Stir in (optional):
chopped nuts
chocolate chips
raisins

Drop cookies onto a well-greased cookie sheet and bake 15 minutes at 375 F.