pumpkin scones with chocolate chips

  

I swear I haven't just been eating pumpkin foods this whole time. I was pretty much over it, honest. But then I saw this recipe over at said she said he and it looked so delicious and warm- like a hug for my stomach. And so I made it and I have no regrets. Neither do my roommates, who also loved them.

Pumpkin Scones with Chocolate Chips 

2 3/4 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold
1 cup chocolate chips
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
2 large eggs
milk, for brushing on dough

coarse sugar, for sprinklin 

1. Mix the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add butter (very cold and cut into pats) to dry ingredients. Work butter into mixture until crumbly. It's okay for some larger chunks of butter to remain unincorporated.

3. Add chocolate chips and stir to combine.
4. Mix pumpkin and eggs in a separate bowl. Then add mixture to other ingredients.
5. Mix to form a uniform dough. Be careful not to over-mix as the more you handle the dough, the tougher the scones will be.
6. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle a bit of flour on top of the paper.
7. Divide the dough in half and round each half into about a 6" circle (3/4" thick).
8. Brush each circle with milk and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
9. Slice each circle into 6 wedges and carefully pull the wedges away from the center to separate them just a bit.
10. Place pan of scones in freezer for 30 minutes, uncovered.
11. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees, while the scones are chilling.
12. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes.

pumpkin oatmeal

No, but really. Pumpkin. Everything.

I had leftover pumpkin puree from the doughnuts, so I've been putting it in my morning oatmeal along with pumpkin pie type spices. Few things can make me smile before 10am. This is one of them. You can see I had some real trouble stopping long enough to get a picture.

Pumpkin Oatmeal
 
Ingredients
1 1/2 c. water
1/4 c. steel cut oats
2 T. pumpkin puree
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. allspice
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. ginger 
1 t. brown sugar
dash of salt

Bring water to boil in small sauce pan. Stir in oats, then simmer for 20-25 minutes on low heat. When oats are almost cooked, stir in pumpkin puree and spices. Continue cooking until flavors have mixed and oats are desired texture. 

baked pumpkin doughnuts

Seriously. All things pumpkin lately.

I made these for our Halloween party a couple of weekends ago. This is an awful, embarrassing picture from my iPhone but it's the only one I have of them and I wanted to share the recipe.

Up until recently I had thought you needed a fryer to make doughnuts, so you can imagine my delight when I found out about the doughnut pan (thank you, said she said he). For only $10 you can get baked doughnuts and wave goodbye to fears of scalding yourself and burning down your house (again). I found this recipe by doing an internet search for pumpkin doughnuts, then made a simple cinnamon sugar glaze.

Super good.


Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts
via Taste & Tell Blog

Doughnuts
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Preheat the oven to 350F. Prepare a doughnut pan by spraying with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger. Set aside.

In another bowl, cream together the brown sugar, butter and pumpkin. Add in the eggs, mix well, then mix in the milk and vanilla. Stir in the reserved dry ingredients.

Place the mix in a large zip-top bag. Cut off the corner and pipe into the doughnut pan. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven, let rest for 5 minutes, then remove from pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. 


Cinnamon Glaze
½ cup powdered sugar
1 T. milk
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg

Mix until smooth and creamy.  The glaze should pour easily from a spoon.  You may need to add additional milk or powder sugar to get the right consistency.

pumpkin + black bean soup

Loving all things pumpkin lately.

Last week my roommate and I had the idea to take food over to two of our friends and their baby who are having a tough time lately. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance to make this soup.

The recipe is one my sister Sarah sent me years ago. I remember making it in my studio apartment, back when I first lived alone and considered heating up ramen a well thought-out meal. It would make me so happy, eating the soup on my floor, watching my tv/vcr combo. I hope it gave my friends a similar feeling. Good soup kind of does that, you know? Makes everything seem a little better.

A few notes on the recipe- I used whole milk instead of cream, because that's what I had on hand. Given the choice, I wouldn't do it again because it definitely lacked some richness to sort of balance everything. Also, I didn't use chives because my produce market doesn't sell them.

Pumpkin & Black Bean Soup
via Rachel Ray

2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cups vegetable stock
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes in juice
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained
2 cans (15 ounces) pumpkin puree 
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper,
Coarse salt
chives for garnish

Heat a soup pot over medium heat. Add oil. When oil is hot, add onion. Saute onions 5 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes, black beans and pumpkin puree. Stir to combine ingredients and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and stir in cream, curry, cumin, cayenne and salt, to taste. Simmer 5 minutes, adjust seasonings and serve garnished with chopped chives.