I’ve got a guilty conscience.  Here’s a little peek inside:

Dear Coworker David,  

Tonight when you were detailing the twenty one shots you had for your twenty first birthday, I stopped listening at about shot number four… the Raging Bull I think you said.  How do you remember all twenty one shots after twenty one shots anyway!?   Sheeesh!  Though I was smiling and nodding tonight, I heard not a word you said.  True. 

Dear Downstairs Neighbor,

Is it noisy down there?  Does it seems sometimes like I’m stomping around on my second floor apartment floors?  Probably.  I am.  I can have some heavy feet from time to time.  Do I do it on purpose?  Sometimes.  Yes.  To be fair, I do this because, as you know, I left cupcakes on your doorstep for you one afternoon and I watched you discover them and take them to the dumpster to throw away.  I saw you do that.  Not cool.  Not cool at all.  

Dearest Friend (pssst!… that’s you),

Sometimes I make recipes vegan simply because I’m out of eggs and/or butter.  It’s true.  A severe and persisting egg shortage in my house was the inspiration for the Vegan Pumpkin Bread.  If you’re vegan, you’re probably annoyed.  That’s ok.  I can be annoying.  If you’re not vegan, you’re probably happy to know that you can still bake up some wonders without eggs and butter.  Your call.  

Love,

Joy the Baker

Pumpkin Bread.  Ooooh, you’re a tough one to futz up.  Pumpkin adds moisture and flavor that just won’t quit.  When combined with plenty of spices, pumpkin bread becomes a treat that will stay fresh and moist for days and days.  This version is sweetened with both brown sugar and maple syrup.  I. Love. It.  

Vegan Pumpkin Walnut Bread

     makes 2 loaves

     Print this Recipe!

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour ( or whole wheat flour… or just use only all-purpose flour)

2 cups light brown sugar, packed

1/3 cups granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree, or just under two cups

1 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup water

1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place a rack in the center of the oven.  Grease and flour two loaf pans (mine are 8×4x2) and set aside.  

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.  

In a medium bowl, carefully whisk together pumpkin puree, oil, maple syrup and water.  

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and use a spatula to fold all of the ingredients together.  Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl well, finding any stray flour bits to mix in.  Fold in most of the chopped walnuts, reserving some to sprinkle on top of the batter once in the pan. 

Divide the dough between the two greased pans and sprinkle with a few walnut pieces.  Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove from the oven.  Let rest in the pans for 20 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack.  

Serve warm.  Maybe even wrap one loaf up in plastic wrap and store in the freezer for future munching.

Autumn To-Do List

Buy boots.  Wear new boots at every waking moment.  

Bust out the scarves and go for it.  Two at a time?  Fine by me! 

Make Dad’s Sweet Potato Pie.  I know… I’ve been talking about this for ages.  I need to shut my trap and get bakin’ already.

Don’t get Swine Flu, that would be seriously lame. 

Is it time for flannel sheets?  Well.. is the Pope Catholic?  Heck yes!

Eat Roasted Pumpkin Soup by the truckload.  Do it.  Done.  

I make a lot of soup.  I don’t tell you about half of the soup I make because if you knew, you might make me change the name of this blog to Joy the Soup Maker.  

That being said… when I make soups, I usually don’t follow a recipe.  Here’s a secret:  you can throw just about anything into soup and it’ll be delicious.  

Here’s my recipe for pumpkin soup.  It’s easy, creamy, and super healthy.  Store it in jars in the freezer and put a frozen jar in the fridge in the morning for the evening’s dinner.  This recipe is divine with or without the heavy cream.  You could also use water instead of vegetable stock, but I love the flavor that a good vegetable stock adds to vegetable soups.  

Roasted Pumpkin and Butternut Squash Soup

     serves 6 to 8

     Print this Recipe!

1 medium pumpkin (perhaps a sugar pumpkin) and 1 medium butternut squash

1 cup leeks

2 small cloves garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper 

5-6 cups vegetable broth

1/4-1/2 cup cream

2 teaspoons brown sugar

a few pinches of freshly grated nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Cut pumpkin and butternut squash into 2-inch chunks, removing the inner seeds and fibrous bits.  I roasted my pumpkin and squash with the peel on and removed the cooked flesh from the peel once baked.  If you think it’s easier to peel the pumpkin and squash before baking, then go right ahead.  

Slice the white flesh up until the green stalks of several leeks.  Toss the pumpkin, squash, whole garlic cloves and leeks on a baking tray with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Bake for 25-35 minutes or until a fork inserted in the flesh of the pumpkin and squash meets no resistance.  

Remove from the oven and allow them to rest until cool enough to handle.  

When cooled, use a spoon to scoop the cooked flesh away from the squash peel and place in a large saucepan.  Add the roasted garlic and leeks to the pan too.  Add 3 cups of warm vegetable broth and using a hand blender, blend and breakdown the squash flesh with the broth.  If you don’t have a hand blender, blending the chunky soup in a regular blender in batches should work too.  Add 2 to 3 more cups of broth and blend until you’ve reached the desired consistency.  Add sugar and nutmeg.

Cook soup over medium heat for 30 minutes.  Add cream and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir.  Serve warm.

Pumpkin. 

It’s October and it is time.  Pumpkin.  

Hold on to your hats.  I’ll be all up in your grill with peppermint and chocolate for Christmas before you know it.  

For now….

Pumpkin.   Don’t fight it.

Sweet.  Soft.  Cake-like.  Pumpkin Cookies with Butterscotch Chips.  A-mazing.  

Pumpkin Pie Bars.  Nuts.  Oats.  Spices… and Butterscotch chips, for good measure.  

Again with the Pumpkin Cookies.  They’re that good.  Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies sprinkled with powdered sugar.  

Now… Pumpkin Pancakes sprinkled with cinnamon sugar  and topped with lightly sweetened whipped cream.  Lovely Fall weekend breakfast.  Inspires weekend napping.  What could be better?   

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

     adapted from Martha Stewart

     makes 14-18 small pancakes

Print this Recipe!

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour 

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

pinch of ground ginger

pinch of ground cloves

1 cup milk

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1 egg

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil or melted butter

Whisk together flours, salt, spices, sugar and baking powder in a medium sized bowl.  

In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, egg, pumpkin and vegetable oil or melted butter.  

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined.  Don’t worry if you have a few lumps.  You don’t want to over beat the batter, it’ll produce tough pancakes.  

Let the batter sit for 10 minutes while you heat the skillet.  Over low-medium heat melt a tablespoon of butter or vegetable oil .  Once skillet is hot, spoon a heaping 2 tablespoons of batter per pancake into the skillet.  When pancake starts to bubble slightly, carefully flip over.

Once browned and cooked through place pancakes on a oven proof plate and place in the oven set at 200 degrees F to keep warm while the rest of the pancakes are cooked.  

Serve with whipped cream and cinnamon sugar.. or maple syrup.  Delicious! 

Pumpkin is upon us.

It’s a fact friends.  Deal with it.

I went a little pumpkin crazy at the store this week.  Something comes over me when the seasons change.  Because I live in a city where the weather insists on staying virtually the same temperature all year round, and the palm trees know nothing of seasonal changes, I feel like I’m forced to express the change of season in very outward, often very expensive ways.

When early October hits, and the hint of a cool night beckons me to turn my bedroom fan off, inevitably, the next day I’m out shopping for scarves, tights, knee high boots, and yes….. pumpkin.

We had a chilly night this past weekend (I’m talking low 60’s) which prompted me to take out my winter coat (yes I have one, and it’s fantastic).  This also prompted me to go on a pumpkin bender at the grocery store.

I’m giving you the heads up.  It’s pumpkin time people.  Are you with me?

Consider this pumpkin recipe as your Fall lemon bar.  Think of this pumpkin recipe as reason not to have to roll out a pie crust.  Think of this pumpkin recipe when you want a nip from the Bourbon bottle while you’re baking.  Is that a crime?  I think not.

Pumpkin Pie Bars

adapted from Kraft

Print this recipe!

Ok… with this recipe I’ve totally been busted. It’s late April and here I am with a pumpkin post. That can only mean one thing- I’ve had a can of pumpkin in my pantry since last Thanksgiving. Absurd! I know! That little pumpkin gem must have gotten pushed to the back of the line in the past few months. Well, it’s seen the light of day in these most delicious cookies.

These Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies are a combination of cookie, cake and pancake and quick bread. They’re super soft, moist and cakey. They’re full of pumpkin and spice flavor, and the chocolate just sends them over the top.

I know I can’t be the only one with a lonely can of pumpkin in the pantry. These cookies are a simple and delicious was to celebrate that forgotten can! Throw some vanilla ice cream in, and life has suddenly improved. It’s as easy as that!

The basic recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies allows for creativity. Instead of regular chocolate chips try mini chocolate chips, or butterscotch chips, or (better yet) both!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from Big Fat Cookies

Print this recipe!

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup canola or corn oil

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips, or any chip you like

Position a rack in the middle of the oven . Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and butter the paper.

Stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices together in a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar until smooth and lightened in color, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. On low speed, mix the oil, pumpkin, and vanilla until blended. Mix in the flour mixture to incorporate it. Mix in the chips.

Using an ice cream scoop with a 1/4-cup capacity, scoop mounds of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies at least 2 1/2-inches apart. You could also simply use a 1/4-cup measuring cup if you don’t have a scoop. Use a thin metal spatula to smooth and flatten the rounds.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, about 16 minutes. Cool them on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool cimpletely.

Dust the cooled cookies lightly with powdered sugar. The cookies can be stored in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 4 days.