Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

 Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Gluten-free, vegan, and allergy-friendly! Also DELICIOUS.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups pureed pumpkin (1 15 oz. can is fine)

1/2 c sugar

1/4 c molasses

2 c rolled oats

1 c flour *substitute gf flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

***for the spices, a pumpkin spice mix would be amazing

1/2 c raisins *OPTIONAL--I say GROSS.

1 c chocolate chips/chunks of your choice

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix pumpkin, sugar, and molasses together.

In small bowl, combine oats, flour, spices, and baking soda.

Mix together with pumpkin and sugar. Mix in chocolate and/or raisins.

Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet. (I sprinkled a little kosher salt on top–highly recommend) 

Bake 11/13 minutes.

NOTES:

I was really impressed with these as they stuck together super well despite the lack of egg and they came out nice and chewy. 

I think the bake time was a little longer than written? Just watch for your desired level of chewy. 

And the batter was so good we ended up cooking a tray-full of the batter then eating the rest straight out of the mixing bowl over the course of a couple days.

Turkey Pumpkin Chili

New apartment, plus reunited with the big ol' dutch oven - time for chili.  I was originally looking up bison recipes, but the Whole Foods website had another intriguing recommendation (notwithstanding the nearest location's limited meat selection lacking a pretty key ingredient...):

Recipe

1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 jalapenos, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lb ground turkey
1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
1 c water
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 can (14 oz) kidney beans
corn (optional)
olive oil, salt & pepper

Heat some oil medium-high, and add the onion, green pepper, jalapeno, and garlic.  Once that's soft, brown your turkey.  Then add the tomatoes, pumpkin, water, and spices.  Bring to a boil, lower heat, and add the beans (and corn if you want).  Simmer 30 minutes or so.

Notes

Solid chili option, feels like it could plausibly be healthy...  The pumpkin really didn't come through much, which was a little disappointing when I was hoping for a nice hearty fall meal.  Overall a nice mix of sweet and spicy though!

Pumpkin & Sausage Pasta

I got a (premature) jump on the fall with this recipe, earmarked a while ago in the old Rachael Ray cookbook (which actually only required me to buy the sausage and Parm):

Recipe

1 lb pasta (e.g., penne, rigatoni, rotini)
1 lb Italian sausage (bulk, or removed from casing)
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
4-6 sage leaves, slivered
1 cup dry white wine
1 can (14 oz.) chicken broth
1 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup heavy cream
sprinkle of cinnamon & nutmeg/allspice
Parmesan cheese
olive oil, salt, pepper

Heat some olive oil in a deep pot or skillet over medium and brown the sausage.  Remove, add a little more oil, and saute the onion and garlic.  Add the wine, bay leaf, and sage; reduce the wine for a few minutes.  Next in goes the broth and pumpkin, stir together, and bring to a bubble.  Return the sausage, reduce heat, and add cream.  Season with a sprinkle of cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper and simmer five minutes.

Meanwhile, somewhere in there, start cooking the pasta.  Once everything's done, pour the sauce over the pasta and let mingle for a few minutes over low heat.  Serve with Parmesan.

Notes

First of all, Rachael recommends sweet sausage, but I got spicy because I like to live on the edge.  It was strong but delicious.  Also, I reverse-substituted allspice for cinnamon and nutmeg.

I was a little skeptical looking at everything, but it turned out delicious.  The sauce didn't really thicken, but it still worked perfectly in a nice deep bowl of pasta.  With a generous sprinkle of cheese, it's a bowl of gooey delight:

Pumpkin Panna Cotta

Happy Thanksgiving!  This year saw my first effort to contribute in the kitchen.  I dug into the archives for a recipe with some seasonal flavors - and definitely sounds much fancier than it actually is to put together:

Recipe

1/2 cup milk
1 envelope  gelatin
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup (half a can) pureed pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
chocolate for garnish (optional)

Combine the half-and-half, pumpkin, sugar, and cinnamon and mix (or blend) until it's very regular.  Meanwhile, put the milk in a large saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin on top.  Don't turn on the heat for about five minutes, then warm over low until the gelatin dissolves.  Then add the pumpkin mixture, cook over medium and stir until it steams.  Then pour into a dish (or individual dishes) and chill for a couple hours.  Once it's firm you can garnish with ground chocolate.

Outcome

For the hungry, sweet-toothed clan, I doubled everything.  The chocolate was my own addition to the recipe, for an extra texture and flavor (but also to distract from a little bit of a splotchy top).  We used an ounce of unsweetened baker's chocolate over the top.  The result wasn't too sugary, so you could potentially use something richer...

On its way to being fully consumed...