Pumpkin Rolls

If you like cinnamon rolls, then your going to like pumpkin rolls.  Same concept, except I put pumpkin in the bread dough and pumpkin pie spice on the inside, (instead of cinnamon).  This recipe make 1 dozen rolls, and is great for breakfast, (or anytime).

For this you will need:
2 3/4 - 3 1/2 cups flour
1 package active dry yeast, (1/4 ounce)
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 Tabs sugar
4 Tabs butter
1/2 teas salt
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
pumpkin pie spice
nutmeg

In a large bowl combine 1 1/2 cup flour and yeast.  Give this a stir and set aside.

In a small saucepan, over low heat combine pumpkin puree, milk, sugar, salt, and 2 teas butter.  Stir until warm and butter is almost melted.

To the flour and yeast mixture add the milk and pumpkin mixture, the beaten egg, 1/4 teas and pumpkin pie spice and 1/4 teas nutmeg.

Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then on medium speed for 3 minutes.

Already you can smell the wonderful yeast begin to come alive, and the pumpkin puree has a wonderful fall aroma.

Now working in 1/2 cup increments, stir in your flour until you get a fairly moderate stiff dough.  The amount of flour you will add depends on several factors, (how much humidity is in the air, how much water your flour is holding, how compact your flour is in your measuring, etc.)  Today my dough took an additional 1 1/2 cups, (I live in a very dry climate and today our humidity was low).

So as you can see, after about 3 to 4 minutes, we have a nice workable dough.  Turn out onto a very lightly floured surface and knead the dough using your fingertips to pull the dough towards you, (gently folding the dough over), and your palms to gently push the dough away.  Knead your dough for about 5 minutes, working in any additional flour needed to achieve a smooth and elastic dough.

When you are done, your dough will look like this. Like a typical bread dough, but darker in color because of the pumpkin puree, (almost golden).

Spray a large bowl with baking spray, (or use butter), cover with plastic wrap, and a clean towel.  Place in a warm draft free place for 1 hour to rise.

OK - it's been an hour, and this is our dough.  You can smell the wonderful yeast of the dough giving life to the bread.  Gently turn the dough out on to a work surface, cover with a clean towel and let the dough rest for 5 minutes, (the carbon dioxide will deflate the dough slightly).

Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out in a 12 inch by 10 inch rectangle.

Melt the remaining 2 Tabs of butter.

In a small bowl combine the brown sugar and 1 1/2 teas of pumpkin spice.

Brush the dough with the melted butter.

Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the melted butter.  If you want, you can also add finely chopped nuts at this point, (pecans or walnuts are a really good addition).

Now, starting on the long side, gently roll the dough, (sometimes you might need to use your dough scraper to help ease the dough along - as you can see there is almost no flour on my work bench).

Now that you have the dough rolled up, this is what it will look like.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and spray the parchment paper with baking spray, (this will not only help with the clean up, but your bread dough doesn't come in contact with the metal and get that funny metal taste).

Using your dough scraper, or a sharp knife, cut the dough into 12 pieces.

Place the rolls on the pan, leaving room for expansion during the final rise.

Gently cover with plastic wrap, and a clean towel, place in a warm draft free area for about 45 minutes to rise.  If it's rather warm, you will find you might only need 30 minutes.

It's been 45 minutes, and see how much they have risen?  Preheat your oven to 375 degrees,  Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.

Our rolls are done baking, and now they are cooling on a wire rack.  Let's make something for the top of them.  Can't have naked rolls.

Today, I am going to use up this small amount of caramel sauce that I have, and just put a tiny drizzle over each roll.  You could make a caramel frosting from scratch:
2 Tabs butter, melted
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tabs milk
1/4 teas vanilla extract
dash salt
1/4 - 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
Cook over low heat stirring well to blend, until you achieve the desired consistency.
Sometimes, I frosted them with a cream cheese frosting - YUMMY

And there we have our pumpkin rolls.  You can store these on a platter covered with plastic to keep them nice a soft.

My husband likes to warm his rolls in the microwave for a couple of seconds before he eats them.  I can just eat them at room temp and enjoy.

So, we've probably used most of our pumpkin that we cut up and pureed,  We've made pumpkin bread, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin pie, and now pumpkin rolls.  And I haven't even begun to touch the dozens of other recipes I have for using my pumpkin puree.  Maybe I should put together a pamphlet of pumpkin recipes?

Enjoy, let me know how your rolls turned out.  Great way to start the Thanksgiving morning.

Cranberry Pomegranate Chuntney

 This week one of our local grocers was selling cranberries for less than $1 a bag, (I scored 6 bags!!).  I started thinking about making bread, muffins, cookies, etc., etc.  Then I found pomegranates for 75 cents each and I knew I was going to make a cranberry pomegranate chutney for Thanksgiving.  It's so easy, and so quick.  No standing over the stove stirring and waiting for the cranberries to pop open.  Also, I make this much lower in sugar.  All you need is:
1 - 12 oz bag of cranberries
1 medium pomegranate
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tabs lemon juice

Seed the pomegranate, you will need approximately 1 cup of seeds.

Place everything in the food processor. Pulse for a minutes or so.

And you done!!  That fast and easy.  Give it a taste.  This is perfect for us, but if your family likes it a little sweeter, go ahead and add a little more sugar.

This stores in a covered container very well in the refrigerator for a week to ten days.  But it doesn't last that long in our house!!  It goes so well with turkey, chicken, ham, and any kind of pork.  Great to mix with mayo for sandwiches.

For lunch, I having a turkey and provolone cheese sandwich on homemade bread with my homemade chutney.  

OH MAN, does that ever look delicious!!  And it taste heavenly!!

If you don't have pomegranates, go ahead and make your chutney with one medium orange, (remove the seeds first).  It's just as delicious!

Enjoy.

Fresh Pumpkin Pie

Those who have been following us, and using their pureed pumpkin so far have made Pumpkin Bread and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Now lets make some Pumpkin Pie.  This recipe makes 2- 9 inch pies and is SO easy, (only 1 bowl).  I like to make my pies the day before - so the spices can marry with the pumpkin while setting up in the refrigerator, (oh, so good!!).  First get your pie shell ready, (you can use a graham cracker or a pastry crust, your choice).  Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  I like to pre-bake pastry crust for 3 minutes before pouring the pumpkin custard into the shell, (but it's not totally necessary with this recipe).  For holidays, I like to use a 2 inch deep pie pan, (the slice gives a much nicer presentation), but for everyday pies and for this demonstration I am using a 1 inch pie pan that was handed down from my grandmother, (I love this pie pan, because it has the slider bar which makes removing every slice, even the first, easy).

For this recipe you will need:
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teas ground cinnamon
1 teas cloves
1 teas ground allspice
1/2 teas ground ginger
1/2 teas nutmeg
1/2 teas salt
3 large eggs, (or 4 medium eggs)
3 cups pumpkin puree
1 can evaporated milk
1 teas vanilla extract
NOTE: you can also substitute for the sugar ONE of the following:  1 1/4 cup honey,  1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup natural sugar, 1 cup agave, 1 1/4 cup Splenda, (artificial sweeteners work better if you use a mix of 50/50 with sugar), or 1/3 cup Stevia.

In a large bowl combine the sugar, cinnamon, ground cloves, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.  Give this a stir to mix everything well.

Note:  If you want to use 4 teaspoons of "pumpkin pie spice" instead of the cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger and nutmeg you can - but I think the flavors are so much better when you use this combination of separate spices.

To the sugar spice mixture add the eggs, milk, and vanilla.  Mix on low speed.

Add the pumpkin puree, and continue mixing on low speed.

And the mixture is ready for the pie shell.  It will be very thin, but don't worry it will set up nicely during the baking.

 Here is the pre-baked pie shell.  It's not browned, just slightly set up, and ready for the custard.

Pour the pumpkin mixture into the shell to about 1/4 inch from the very top.  Be careful not to overfill.  Some people will set the pie shell on the oven rack and pour their custard into the shell, (so they don't have to carry the filled pie pan to the oven and worry about spilling, but I just set my pan on the counter next to the oven, fill it, and gently set it in the oven).
Note:  What do you do with extra custard? I simply fill a greased baking dish and make a crustless pie, or fill muffin tins.  Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake for 45 - 60 minutes, (depending on how large your pie pan is), until a knife inserted comes out clean.

And there is your pumpkin pie, (completely from scratch).  Yes of course you can use canned pumpkin, but the taste won't be as wonderful as it is if you are using your own fresh pumpkin puree.
Note:  I wrap some foil around the edge of my pie to prevent the edges from burning.

 And here's the excess custard, I baked in a square baking dish.  Less calories without the crust.

It's so hard to resist a piece of warm pumpkin pie, but let it cool and add some whipped cream or ice cream.  I like mine plain.
Want to make your pie a little more special?
Top the pie with marshmallows during the last 15 minutes of baking, then remove the pie, turn on the broiler and place the pie under the broiler for 1 minute until nice and golden.
Want to take another step: sprinkle some chopped pecans and drizzle with caramel syrup.
Another special touch:  Add a layer of peanut butter to the pie crust bottom, then pour your pumpkin pin custard into the shell and bake.

And remember, you can make these pies and freeze them ahead of time.  Just cover tightly with plastic wrap after the pie is completely cool and pop it in the freezer, then when your ready for the pie, remove it from the freezer, put it in the refrigerator for about 24 hours, you can then warm it in the oven, (350 degrees for about 15 minutes), or the microwave, (just a couple of minutes).  And it's just like freshly made pie.

Let me know how your family liked your freshly made pumpkin pie.    And what special touches did you add to your pumpkin pie.  Up next, I'm thinking maybe something pumpkin for the breakfast crowd.

ENJOY!!

Fresh Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Those who read the Pumpkin Bread post saw how easy it is to transform that Halloween pumpkin into delicious ready to use pumpkin puree just like you buy in the store, for much less cost.  Now that you have some pumpkin puree on hand, let's make some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.
First preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
This recipe makes 3 dozen cookies
You will need the following ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teas baking powder
1/2 teas baking soda
1/2 teas salt
1 1/2 teas cinnamon
1/2 teas ground ginger
1/2 cup room temperature unsalted butter
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree  (not pumpkin pie mix, if you are using canned pumpkin)
2 large eggs
1 teas vanilla extract
grated rind of 1 orange
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper, (this helps with clean up), or lightly grease the baking sheets.

 In a medium bowl, whisk together:
flour
baking powder
baking soda
salt
spices
give them a stir, to mix everything together

In a large bowl, cream together the sugar, brown sugar, butter, and applesauce, (note: years ago this recipe originally called for 1 cup of butter, but I reworked the recipe and now use 1/2 cup of butter and 1/2 cup applesauce.  Saves on the fat and also adds more flavor).

Grate the rind from the orange, (you will have approximately 2 Tabs).  I find that the addition of the fresh orange zest adds another layer of flavor with the pumpkin that is so good.  Add in the eggs, vanilla extract, and pumpkin.  Mix on very low speed until blended.

Stir in the chocolate chips, (and if you are adding nuts stir them in also).

 Using a tablespoon, drop onto the parchment lined baking sheet.  I do a dozen per sheet, so there is enough room for each cookie to spread and cook evenly.   Cook for 13 - 15 minutes. Watch so they don't burn!

 Remove from oven and cool on rack for a few minutes before removing from baking sheet.

Yummy - I just couldn't resist doing a quality control check!!    Give these a try and let me know how your family likes them.  Check back and I'll show you how to make a pumpkin pie using the pumpkin that we pureed.  This recipe for pie is fantastic.

Enjoy your cookies !!