Sunday, November 2, 2008

God Bless (North) America

So perhaps I am a little late to the party, with it already being November and all, but can I just say that Vancouver is putting on a Fall like no other! I'm not sure if it is just due to being away from home, but I really don't think I have seen colours quite like I have been when walking the Vancouver streets this past month. Not only are the trees celebrating, but thanks to Thanksgiving and Halloween it seems like everyone is celebrating the very fact that it is Fall. I love it. Those holidays add a whole new meaning to this longtime favourite season, and I love that it means you decorate with pumpkins, drink tea, wrap up in quilts and smell the leaves.

Living in the Southern Hemisphere you don't have pumpkins in October, so not only do we not decorate with them, we don't really bake with them either. I've noticed many a pumpkin recipe in blog-land and this unspoken understanding that pumpkin baking/cooking is just what you do in October. Strangely, I hated HATED pumpkin when I was little, so I guess making up for lost time (and just being way too excited at North America and is decorating holiday festiveness) means that I have embraced it wholeheartedly.

These pumpkin chocolate-chip cookies were my first pumpkin baking attempt, and boy were they good! I used Celine's recipe from Have Cake, Will Travel and can I just say - that woman is a genius, and will probably be the death of me. If I keep reading her blog for much longer you may literally have to roll me out of the house.

My pumpkin excited-ness got the better of me and I ended up with WAY too much puree, which lead to these delicious treats. Very easy, moist and with a slight nutty crunch due to the seeds.

Ingredients

2 Eggs (or equivalent egg replacer)

1 1/4 c Sugar

1/3 c Oil (I used sunflower)

1 c Pumpkin Puree

2 1/4 c flour

2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

Pinch of salt

1/2 tsp each Cinnamon, ground Cloves, Nutmeg

1/4 c Yogurt

1/4-1/2 pumpkin seeds

What to do...

1. Mix 'eggs', sugar and oil.

2. Sift (really, I am very rarely bothered to do this) dry ingredients together.

3. Add egg mixture, pumpkin and finally yogurt to the dry ingredients. Fold in pumpkin seeds, but be sure not to overwork.

4. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. You might want to sprinkle some sugar and cinnamon on top before doing this, to add a little extra crunch.

A quick note...if you're using canned pumpkin puree, make sure to get the unsweetened sort. Also, for an egg substitute I usually use half a banana per egg needed.

Happy Fall everyone, and Happy November too!

xx

9 comments:

Bird Bath said...

I really like the sound of the muffin recipe. I will try it. I know you can get pumpkin puree in a can over there, but is that just the same as steamed & mashed pumpkin you can make at home?
Your autumn photos are lovely - as are the ones in previous posts. I'm very pleased to have discovered your lovely blog :)

The Little Mama said...

That last photo is really beautiful. I am so lucky to have shared some of that pumpkin baking with you! Yum.

mine... and now yours. said...

sigh.

Jodi said...

oh yum, oh beautiful, oh the colours...

Anonymous said...

Becka!

Sigh. What a great post. I still cannot imagine Autumn without Halloween though...or pumpkin. Does not compute.

Anonymous said...

love love love the new photos...., can only imagine how beautiful it must be, whilst we are getting used to the heat and sweat !!!! the pumpkin scones looked yummy too - yes you never did like it when you were a baby (: lol mum xxx

Factor Quema Grasa Descargar said...

Revisión elemento de reducción de peso para ofrecer la idea ideal del programa que puede mejorar su vida. Encuentra lo que puedes encontrar en él!

Anonymous said...

Factor Quema Grasa
Factor Quema Grasa Pdf
Libro Factor Quema Grasa
Factor Quema Grasa Gratis
Factor Quema Grasa Descargar
Factor Quema Grasa Descargar Gratis
Factor Quema Grasa Libro
Factor Quema Grasa Libro Gratis
Factor Quema Grasa Pdf Gratis

Como Eliminar La Celulitis said...

Elemento libro reducción de grasa que revela los métodos mejores para reducir el peso rápidamente en un entorno natural y saludable.