1.1.10

The mini pumpkins and an acorn squash that I picked in mid November ripened further on the counter in the kitchen. I finally dissected all of them. Seeds went to the worm bin (after cooking and cooling - seeds often sprout in the worm bin and are sort of hard to deal with). I lightly rubbed the squash slices with olive oil and roasted them at 350 for about an hour, maybe more. When a fork could easily pierce the flesh and flake off a tastey morsel and they didn't taste raw, they were done!



After I removed the skin and pureed the flesh, I made pumpkin muffins. They were delicious. I gave up meat just before the new year, so I altered a recipe in my Betty Crocker cookbook to accomodate. I used lite coconut milk in place of milk. I may have used real eggs as I was still going through groceries purchased before I switched over, but in the future I'll either use egg replacer (not egg substitute, which is still made from eggs) or cinnamon applesauce. I'm betting the cinnamon applesauce will be dynamite. I made a little crumble of brown sugar and toasted pumpkin seeds that I topped the muffins with. The resulting muffin had a great texture - a tad on the crumbly side but I'll bet that the apple sauce in future batches will correct that. It was sweet but not overly so. You could just barely taste a hint of coconut. I think most people would have missed it altogether. I had added some extra spices - cardamon and clove - in addition to the regular pumpkin-y spices.

Here's the recipe with my alterations:

• 1 C whole wheat flour
• 1 C packed brown sugar
• 1 T baking powder
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t baking soda
• 1/4 t ground nutmeg
• 1/8 ground ginger or ground cloves ( or cardamon)
• 1 C pumpkin puree
• 1/2 C lite coconut milk
• 2 "eggs" worth of egg replacer OR cinnamon apple sauce
• 1/3 C vegetable shortening
• 1 C whole wheat flour
• 1/2 C chopped walnuts
• 1/2 C raisins

1. Spray a non-stick muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine 1 cup whole wheat flour, the brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, and spice of choice.
3. Add pumpkin, coconut milk, egg replacer or apple sauce, and vegetable shortening.
4. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed pr hand mix until blended.
5. Once blended, beat on medium to high speed for 2 minutes, or simply contine hand mixing until fully incorporated.
6. Add the 1 cup whole wheat flour, blend.
7. Fold in the walnuts and raisins.
8. Spoon batter into muffin pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven 30-35 minutes (cooking time might require adjusting) or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

For additional flavor, cut together 1/4 cup of brown sugar and toasted pumpkin seeds. Sprinkle a spoonful on top of each muffin before baking.

Sorry no pics. We ate 'em all too fast. Maybe next batch!