Pumpkin Praline Pie

Taylor gets cravings, and whether for cake or curry or pumpkin pie, they need to be filled. I’ve learned this from past experiences, like when he ’snuck’ a grocery store pumpkin pie into our shopping cart without me noticing (I made quite an embarrassment of myself when I proclaimed to the checker that she had made a mistake and the pie was not mine, only to have Taylor grin and say that indeed it was). Needless to say, when this most recent pie craving hit, I knew I had to make him one to avoid another store-bought pie situation.

This recipe is a great one, especially if you’re both a pumpkin and a pecan pie lover. Can’t decide which to make? This pie will solve all your problems.

I easily made this pie dairy free. Simply simmer 2 cups soymilk over low heat for 15-20 minutes until reduced by half. Presto! Evaporated (soy)milk.

Pumpkin Praline Pie

Makes 8-10 servings.

INGREDIENTS
1 (9-inch) pie shell
1 15oz. can pumpkin puree
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
pinch ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup evaporated milk
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
pinch salt
2 tsp dark corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS
For the pie shell: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line pie shell with foil, cover with 2 cups pie weights (pennies or dried beans are fine, too), and bake until dough under foil dries out, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove foil and weights, poke crust several times with fork, and continue to bake until firmly set and lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove pie shell from oven (keep oven on) and set aside. (Shell can be cooled, wrapped tightly in plastic, and stored at room temperature for 1 day.)

For the filling: Puree pumpkin, brown sugar, spices, and salt in food processor until smooth, about 1 minute. Cook mixture in large saucepan over medium-high heat until sputtering and thickened, about 4 minutes, and remove from heat. Meanwhile, put pie shell back in oven to warm.

Whisk evaporated milk into pumpkin mixture, then whisk in eggs and vanilla. Pour filling into warmed pie shell and bake until filling is puffed and cracked around edges and center barely jiggles when pie is shaken, about 35 minutes.

For the topping: While pie is baking, toss pecans, brown sugar, and salt in bowl. Add corn syrup and vanilla, using fingers to ensure that ingredients are well blended.

Scatter topping evenly over puffed filling and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake until pecans are fragrant and topping is bubbling around edges, about 10 minutes. Cool pie completely on wire rack, at least 2 hours. (Pie can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.) Serve pie at room temperature.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Silly me bought a mondo can of pumpkin to make last week’s Pumpkin Praline Pie. So needless to say I had a lot leftover, and who’s to throw out perfectly good pumpkin?

So I found this little gem of a recipe. Let’s just say that I have two more mondo cans of pumpkin waiting in the pantry, destined for more of these cookies.

There is something about the texture of these that is wonderful. They are lighter and fluffier than any cookie I’ve had before. The pumpkin flavor is subtle, not overpowering, and divine when combined with chocolate.

If you’re a pumpkin lover, you HAVE to make these cookies. Even if you’re not a pumpkin lover, after these, you just might become one!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 5 dozen. Recipe from Food Network.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups (12-ounce bag) chocolate chips
Nonstick cooking spray or parchment paper

DIRECTIONS
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper.

Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds. Stir in the chips. Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies off with a spatula and cool them on wire racks.

Pumpkin Chip Cupcakes with Cinnamon Rum Buttercream

In my recent craving for all things pumpkin (apparent by the recent baking of pumpkin muffins and multiple batches of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies), it was only time before the vivid orange squash made its way into some vegan cupcakes.

These cupcakes began as a vision. I’d lay in bed thinking of just what kind of fluffy frosting should top them. I had wanted to do a brown-sugar buttercream, but was afraid that the inherent differences between heavy cream and soymilk would prevent me from doing so (the recipe I had found, I assume, relied greatly on the ‘fluffing’ powers of cream, powers that, try as I might, I cannot replicate with soymilk). If anyone knows otherwise, please let me know – I’d love to try to make this frosting in a non-dairy version.

Brown sugar buttercream impossible, I moved on to my next idea. Thinking of what spices and spirits would go best with a slice of rich pumpkin pie, I set out to make a buttercream, spiced with cinnamon and spiked with rum. And it was good. Quite good. Since the frosting isn’t cooked, the rum stays put, and you could definitely taste it. Same with the cinnamon. I was worried that one might overpower the other, but the balance was perfect.

A perfect fall cupcake, indeed!

Pumpkin Chip Cupcakes with Cinnamon Rum Buttercream

Makes 12 cupcakes. Recipe adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

INGREDIENTS
Cupcakes:
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup soymilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon each ground cloves, nutmeg, and ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter or margarine, room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon dark rum
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
soy milk, as needed

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350ËšF. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl, stir together pumpkin, oil, sugar, soymilk, and vanilla. Sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Gently whisk by hand until just combined, don’t use an electric mixer or overmix the batter as it may become too gummy. Once combined, fold in the chocolate chips.

Fill liners with 1/4 cup batter (cups should be approximately 2/3 full). Bake for 22 to 24 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before frosting.

To make frosting, cream butter. Add 1/2 cup confectioners sugar and mix until smooth. Add rum and cinnamon, and slowly mix (careful not to splatter). Continue adding sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well between additions. Continue to beat until light and fluffy. If frosting is too thick, add a bit of soymilk to thin it out. If too thin, add more sugar and continue to beat until it is the right consistency. Spoon into a piping bag or just slather it right onto the cupcakes. Dust with cinnamon and enjoy!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, or Hanukkah, or whatever it is you celebrate. :)

Our supposed-to-be-relaxing morning began at the crack of dawn (6am) with an earsplitting fire alarm. Not exactly the way you want to wake up on Christmas morning.

The alarms in our building have gone ‘rogue’ (so says Taylor), and it’s beginning to wear on us. Something about the humidity, getting into the alarm boxes in the parking garage, and short circuiting the alarms in the entire building.

And it is LOUD.

We have to stuff kitty into her carrier box (after dragging her out from under wherever she attempted to seek refuge from the noise), make sure we remember the key so we don’t lock ourselves out, run down 3 flights of stairs with our hands over our ears, and stand, shivering, outside with our equally happy neighbors until the fire department comes and turns it off (obviously we’ve done this before).

Then, since we know it was a humid day, we go back inside and wait for it to happen again.

And it did. Twice. At 9:10 and 9:45.

You think they would have factored in humidity before installing the alarms.

As a result, Taylor and I have both become paranoid. We ‘imagine’ we hear the alarm starting, and our hearts jump. We had a tough time going to sleep last night, for that very reason. Every noise we heard could have been the dreaded alarm.

I hope you all had a better day off. :)

One thing that redeemed the bad start to the morning was these:

Pumpkin cinnamon rolls with caramel glaze. They might just be the most delicious thing we’ve eaten for breakfast in a long time. Mmmm. Which reminds me, that half of them are wrapped up in the fridge just waiting for me. With that in mind, on to the recipe!

Amish Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel Icing

Makes 12 rolls. Recipe from RecipeGirl.

INGREDIENTS
For Dough:
1/3 cup milk or soymilk
2 Tbs butter
½ cup canned pumpkin or mashed cooked pumpkin
2 Tbs granulated sugar
½ tsp salt
1 large egg, beaten
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup bread flour

For Filling:
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 Tbs melted butter

For Icing:
¼ cup (4 Tbsp.) butter
½ cup brown sugar, packed
2 Tbs milk
¼ tsp vanilla extract
dash of salt
½ to ¾ cup sifted powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS
Prepare rolls: In a small saucepan, heat milk and 2 Tbsp. butter just until warm (120 – 130°) and butter is almost melted, stirring constantly.

In large mixer bowl, combine pumpkin, sugar and salt. Add milk mixture and beat with an electric mixer until well mixed. Beat in egg and yeast. In a separate mixing bowl, combine flours. Add half of flour mixture to pumpkin mixture. Beat mixture on low speed for 5 minutes, scraping sides of bowl frequently. Add remaining flour and mix thoroughly (dough will be very soft). Turn into lightly greased bowl, then grease surface of dough lightly. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. Turn onto floured surface. Knead a few turns to form a smooth dough, sprinkling with enough additional flour to make dough easy to handle. On lightly floured surface, roll dough into 12×10-inch rectangle.

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Brush surface of dough with melted butter. Sprinkle with brown sugar mixture. Beginning with long side of dough, roll up jelly-roll style. Pinch seam to seal. With a sharp serrated knife, gently cut roll into twelve 1-inch slices. Place rolls cut-side-up in greased 9-inch-square baking pan. (At this point the rolls can be covered and refrigerated overnight if necessary).

Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, 30 to 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake rolls about 20 minutes, or until golden. Remove from pan to waxed paper-lined wire rack. Cool 10 to 15 minutes.

While rolls are cooling, prepare icing: In small saucepan, heat butter until melted. Stir in brown sugar and milk. Stir in brown sugar and milk. Cool over medium-low heat for 1 minute. Transfer to a small mixing bowl and cool mixture slightly. Stir in vanilla, salt and powdered sugar. Beat with an electric mixer until well blended. If necessary, add more powdered sugar for desired consistency.

Drizzle icing over warm rolls.