Homemade Pumpkin Fun!!!

So here is our pumpkin experiences as promised! This is the first year that we have actually done something with our pumpkins after our harvest fun besides throwing it away! This year we thought it would be fun to try it out and so started by cutting the pumpkin in half, scooping out the seeds, then cutting it in small pieces. Then my Mom cooked it in the crock pot (next year she will use the roaster because it holds much more!) and then we cut off the peel and ended up with soft pumpkin. Then we pureed it and make a whole bunch of yummy things with it! Enjoy!

The Pumpkin  Process:

Here we are cutting the skin off.

Then peeled pumpkin!

This was one whole pumpkin!

First we tried using a potato masher but then we realized than a potato masher was for potato's only. :D

So what did we do????

We use a electric mixer..soooo much easier!!!

Adding spices...

Yum!



This can of pumpkin store-bought is $1.50 at Wal-Mart. It only makes one pie, but our whole pumpkin can make 7 pies. The pumpkin was $2.98 so we save money in the long run!

What We Made From Our Pumpkin Puree:

Pumpkin Muffins & Bread

I got this recipe from my friend Elizabeth (click HERE to visit her blogs home page) over at her blog Joyful Jewels 4 Jesus. Click HERE to see the recipe on her blog. (We used the same recipe but we used our own pumpkin puree and then we used sugar instead of honey since we were out of honey :) then we used white flour since we  (again) don't have any wheat flour at the moment and then we made muffins from it and cooked it for 20 minutes for the muffins)

You Will Need:

1 cup pumpkin puree or caned pumpkin

1/2 cup oil or soft butter

1/2 cup honey

2 eggs

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease loaf pan with oil or butter. Beat oil and honey. Add eggs and mix well. Mix in pumpkin until well mixed. Sift together dry ingredients (we just threw it all together and forgot about the sifting, but you can do it if you want :D) then add water to egg mixture and mix. Pour or spoon into prepared Pan(s). Bake at 350 for 55 minutes (we only had to bake then for 50 minutes) (We baked the muffins for 20 minutes at 350) and then cool for 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cookies With Cream Cheese Frosting 

You Will Need:

For the Cookies:

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup margarine or butter, softened

1 cup pumpkin puree or caned pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

For The Frosting:

This is the original frosting recipe but we did it a little differently because (again!) we didn't have confectioners sugar the the moment (as you can tell, tomorrow morning we are going on a big shopping trip! :D) Here is the original recipe:

3 tablespoons margarine or butter

1/ cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar

 We did it like this:

We used the margarine and brown sugar according to the directions, but instead of using milk and powdered sugar we used one package of cream cheese (which we softened in the microwave for a bit) and then we just mixed it with the butter and brown sugar mixture and added sugar to taste.

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Beat sugar, brown sugar, and margarine until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin, vanilla and egg; blend well. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Drop by teaspoons onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Let cool and then frost with the following frosting:

To make frosting start by melting the butter and brown sugar in a sauce pan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and cook on medium heat for 1 minute or until slightly thickened. Let cool for 10 minutes and then add confectioners sugar and milk (we used cream cheese and sugar). Spread over cooled cookies and enjoy!

Enjoy, and have a blessed Thanksgiving!!!
~Bethany For The Wards~