-By Jess
As the leaves begin to turn, and that Chicago breeze becomes a little cooler, I am always comforted by the sight of pumpkins everywhere. Wanting to find more use for pumpkins then cutting some up for Halloween, I was shocked to see how many recipes call for canned pumpkin puree, so I figured I would get a big ole’ pumpkin and roast it myself. Although canned puree is relatively tasty, the pumpkin in its whole form allowed me to make pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, and of course roasted the seeds.
Pumpkin Puree
The recipe I followed online for homemade pumpkin puree called for using one large pumpkin, but I will not go that route again due to the long cooking time, and will rather use many smaller pumpkins.
1) Heat oven to 325 degrees
2) Cut pumpkin into multiple pieces (in the picture below I used a large pumpkin and cut it into 8 slices) and remove seeds/fibers
3) Place pumpkin slices, rind side up, onto a tray covered with foil
4) Roast for 1.5 hours, or until tender
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| Roasted Pumpkins |
5) Scrape “meat” of pumpkin off the rind, and blend in a food processor or blender until smooth.
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| Pumpkin Ready to be Pureed |
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| After Pureeing |
6) You must remove as much moisture as possible from the puree in order to use for baking. Use cheesecloth (preferable) or paper towel (like I did – not the best option but will work). Squeeze the liquid out of the puree into a separate bowl, then refrigerate the puree to use for later.
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| Puree out of Food Processor |
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| Removing Moisture from Puree |
Seeds
While you’re roasting the pumpkin you can get your seeds ready as well!
1) Rinse pumpkin seeds under cold water and pick out the pulp and strings. (This is easiest just after you've removed the seeds from the pumpkin, before the pulp has dried.)
2) Place the pumpkin seeds in a single layer on an oiled baking sheet, stirring to coat. If you prefer, omit the oil and coat with non-stick cooking spray.
3) Sprinkle with salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder (or just salt…) and bake at 325 degrees F until toasted, about 25 minutes, checking and stirring after 10 minutes.
4) Let cool and store in an air-tight container.
5) Enjoy!
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| Roasted Pumpkin Seeds |
Once again, I defer to Thomas Keller’s “Ad Hoc” recipe book. His pie crust works so well for sweet and savory dishes, and is truly simple! Find it here. Note that pumpkin pie only calls for one half of the dough yielded by this recipe, however I find it convenient to make the full recipe and freeze the other half the dough for a later date.
Ingredients
1 cup butter (2 sticks), cubed and chilled
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
8 to 10 tablespoons ice water
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
8 to 10 tablespoons ice water
Directions:
Put the butter, flour, and salt in the food processor, and pulse lightly just until the mixture resembles wet sand. Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing briefly after each spoonful of water. Keep adding water until the dough just begins to gather into larger clumps.
Transfer equal amounts of the dough into 2 resealable plastic bags and pat each into a disk. Let rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Remove 1 of the disks from the bag to a flour coated surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a 10-inch round. Gently fit the rolled dough into a 9-inch pie pan, and refrigerate while you prepare the other ingredients.
Yield: 2 (9-inch) pie crusts
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| Pie Crust Ready for Filling |
While your dough is chilling, you can pull out the puree and get the filling going. I adapted the recipe from the Magnolia Bakery cookbook, which was a fabulous birthday gift from my friend Sarah :).
Ingredients
2 cups of your homemade pumpkin puree
2 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup sugar
¼ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ginger
¼ tsp salt
1 ¼ cups evaporate milk
3 tablespoons of bourbon (as is with my banana bread recipe, I really like Wild Turkey’s American Honey)
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| Filling Crust with Puree |
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, combine the pumpkin and eggs, and beat well. Add the sugars and spices, combine until well mixed. Slowly stir in the milk and bourbon. Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake at 350 for 75 minutes, or until a tester comes out mostly clean.
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| After Baking |
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| The Finished Pie |
Pumpkin Walnut Cookies with Brown Butter Frosting
There was a great deal of leftover puree, so I decided to keep the pumpkin party going and make these sweet and savory cookies. Find the recipe here as well.
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts
Frosting
2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°;
1) In a bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, allspice, cinnamon, and ginger; set aside.
2) In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar until evenly combined.
3) Add in the eggs, pumpkin, and vanilla; beat well.
4) Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly; stir in the walnuts.
5) Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving several inches between for expansion.The batter will seem extremely soft compared with most cookie doughs, but it will firm up during baking.
6) Bake for 12 minutes; cool the cookies on the sheets for 10-12 minutes, then removed to a wire rack to cool completely.
7) To make the frosting: add sugar, milk, and vanilla to a bowl; set aside.
8) In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, cook the butter until lightly browned, about 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently.
9) Remove from the heat, add to the other ingredients and beat until smooth and creamy; cover until ready to use.
10) When the cookies are completely cool, spread a generous amount of frosting on each cookie, and top with a walnut half.
11) Let icing set before stacking the cookies or they will stick together.
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| Finished Cookies |
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