Food Friday: For the Love of Pumpkin (and Squash)!

It is a good thing that it is almost Thanksgiving, because here in the J-M-home we are just about all-pumpkined-out. It has been a lot of pumpkin this fall! What started out as a long-held pumpkin obsession on the part of Kyle, has somehow morphed into a pumpkin obsession on the part of all 3 bambinos. In the end, even Meera became pumpkin crazed (thanks to the glazed “cookies” pictured above). Here are 3 of our favorites from this fall season:

1. Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting! This recipe came from a blog reader, Kendall, who gave us her mom’s amazing cupcake recipe in response to my blog post asking for pumpkin recipes. Thank you Kendall!!! I chose to try her recipe because it looked super easy. And it was! I had made the cheater-box-mix-add-can-of-pumpkin recipes in the past… and they were alright… but this version is an amped up one (more added ingredients, but still cheater/easy)… and let me tell you: THEY ARE GREAT!!! Super moist and delicious, and of course anything with cream cheese frosting is sooooo goooooood! I made these just before Halloween when my parents were coming to visit. Everyone loved them! Kendall’s Mom’s recipe for Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing can be found at the bottom of this post.

2. Iced Pumpkin Cookies! One day earlier this fall, the boys each came home from a school bake sale with a zip-loc bag containing “pumpkin cookies.” I put this in quotes because these are actually some sort of crazy-delicious cross between cookies-&-scones-&-muffin-tops. Kyle and Owen had already sampled them on the bus ride home, and were declaring that these were the “best cookies in the whole wide world!” These things were so precious to them that they only let me taste one tiny bite each. But that tiny bite was enough for me to know that these things were indeed something extra special. Through a lengthy interrogation process I was finally able to discern from them who had brought these cookies to the bake sale. I contacted the girl’s mother and asked for the recipe, which she told me she had made on a whim after finding it on the internet. I’ve copied and pasted the recipe below. But, here’s the original link: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/iced-pumpkin-cookies/detail.aspx. Last Friday, Owen and I doubled the recipe to have these cookies on hand for the weekend of Maggie and Eric’s visit. I am not kidding when I say that the entire FIVE DOZEN “Iced Pumpkin Cookies” were completely gone by Monday morning. I have fond memories of Maggie and Eric eating them for breakfast with their coffee, Kyle and Owen eating them for dessert after dinner, and Meera eating them allll daaaaay loooooong. Seriously… best pumpkin “cookies” ever!

3. Spinach Salad with Warm Squash! Last, but not least… have you tried the Spinach Salad with Warm Squash recipe that I posted last December? If not, for the love of squash, try it!!! Braydon and I had this for dinner one night last week and we were reminded of just how really, really, really good it is!!!

Kendall’s Mom’s Recipe for Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting:

One yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup oil or substitute 1/2 cup apple sauce
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 can pumpkin (20 oz)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend all ingredients, fill paper lined muffin cups (24 regular, 100 mini) 2/3 full. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool, then frost with icing.

Frosting–
one 3 ounce package of cream cheese
3/4 cup butter softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon milk
2 cups powdered sugar

Cream together butter and cream cheese. Beat in vanilla and milk, gradually add powdered sugar until frosting is desired consistency.

 

Iced Pumpkin Cookies:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.
4. To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners’ sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.