Tasty Bites: Pumpkin Pancakes with Cinnamon Syrup

By Beth

I don’t know about you, but when fall comes, I cannot get enough of pumpkin! Last year, I posted about how to roast a pumpkin and create pumpkin puree. I shared a recipe for Pumpkin, Apple and Bacon Soup and these deliciously moist Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins. Today, I am going to share with you one of my most favorite pumpkin recipes over the last several years - Pumpkin Pancakes with Cinnamon Syrup.

These warm, autumn-spiced pancakes are so fluffy and moist. They are made with a combination of all-purpose flour and white, whole- wheat flour. These do not taste remotely “wheaty,” but rest assured, there is a little hit of extra fiber from the whole wheat flour plus all of the wonderful added nutrition from the pumpkin puree.  You can find white, whole-wheat flour, sometimes called whole-wheat pastry flour, at most grocery stores. 

This flour is made from soft, white wheat, which contains the same nutritional benefits as regular whole-wheat flour, but can be used in most recipes that call for all-purpose flour. It yields more delicate texture and more mild flavor than traditional whole wheat flour, which is milled from hard, red wheat.  I often add some white whole-wheat flour into my pizza dough, pancakes, muffins and quick breads, and, of course, it makes a very mild and soft loaf of whole-wheat bread. 

First, we are going to combine all of the liquid ingredients in a large bowl - pumpkin puree, milk, egg, vegetable oil and vinegar. Vinegar, you ask? Vinegar or lemon juice combines with the milk and basically “sours” the milk and turns it into buttermilk. This ingredient helps yield a lighter, fluffier pancake and you will not taste it at all in the finished product…just a necessary ingredient in the chemistry of fluffy pancakes.

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Tasty Bites: Three-Bean Beef and Sausage Chili with Pumpkin

By Beth V

Chili is one of my favorite dishes to serve for company in the fall. It can be made at least a day ahead, and it is warm and satisfying for even the heartiest appetites. You can also easily adjust chili according to your mood. White Chicken Chili, Beef Chili, Sausage Chili, mild, spicy, full of beans, no beans, it can be almost endlessly customized without really messing it up. One day, I wanted to make chili and I gathered all I had on hand to just throw it together, including some leftover pumpkin puree from another recipe. Well, I discovered that we really love our pumpkin chili! Whenever I have made a random chili recipe or a quick throw-together since, my husband taste-tests it and says that he thinks we need to add some pumpkin. Pumpkin adds an earthiness and a slight sweetness that blends right in and really ties the flavors together. If you’ve never tried adding pumpkin to your chili, you don’t know what you’re missing! And the subtle flavor and color blends so well into the chili that no one would ever know it is in there.

Pumpkin also adds more nutrition to what can already be a pretty healthy meal. If your chili is full of beans and veggies along with the meat and tomatoes, it is already a great source of protein, fiber, and antioxidants. Even the chili peppers that make your chili spicy have tremendous health benefits.  Pumpkin adds even more fiber and vitamin A. I love that pumpkin is packed with nutrition because it is such a fun seasonal ingredient, but I like it even more for the subtle way it makes my chili recipes taste better.

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Tasty Bites: Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

By Beth V

OK, so last week I wanted to point out all of the delicious savory ways to add pumpkin to fall meals. As much as I love pumpkin as a savory addition, it sure does taste delicious in baked goods and sweets, doesn't it?  I cannot really pretend that this recipe is healthy, per-se, but you when you eat these, you can at least try to convince yourself that since they include pumpkin as a key ingredient, they might as well be health food! One thing I enjoy on occasion in the fall is a trip through my favorite coffee-shop drive thru to get a coffee and a pumpkin doughnut.  These delicious muffins are certainly much easier to make than doughnuts, and with a bit of crispness to the exterior and a tender, cake-doughnut-like interior, these may just fulfill that fall, pumpkin doughnut craving.

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Tasty Bites: Pumpkin!

By Beth

I was once daunted by the idea of converting a big, orange pumpkin into something that resembled pumpkin puree sold in cans at my local grocery store. Pumpkins are good for decorating your front porch, and for making Jack-O-Lanterns, but they aren’t really thought of as food. Cooking with pumpkin usually involves a can. I was happy to learn that those pumpkins can be easily be turned into food once they have completed their service as fall decorations. Small, sugar pumpkins have the most tender flesh, but a pumpkin of any size can be made into beautiful, orange puree rich in beta-carotene and fiber, with a very small investment of active cooking time.

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