Cooking With Pumpkin Book Recipes

Photo: Courtesy of Cooking With Pumpkin.

Now is the time to emphatically declare your love for all things pumpkin. We certainly have no apologies for our enthusiasm. In fact, you might become annoyed at how often we at R29 will be posting about orange-hued food dishes this fall. But, 'tis the season. To kick things off right, we're starting with the best first — namely, melt-in-your-mouth desserts.

San Diego-based food blogger Averie Sunshine recently released a sweet-tooth collection of
50 recipes — from homemade spiced lattes to brownies with fudgy ganache. There are options you can recreate no matter your culinary skills. Plus, lots of love for vegans, too. And, oddly enough, it just so happens there are 51 days until the end of November, so if you make one recipe a day starting tomorrow, you'll get to enjoy all of them before the end of pumpkin season. Ahead, three of our favorite recipes, which we'll be whipping up in our own kitchen this weekend.

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Photo: Courtesy of Cooking With Pumpkin.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
Yields 1 dozen medium/large muffins

Prep Time
10 minutes. Bake time 18 minutes.

Ingredients
1 cup & 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
Pinch salt, optional
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup pumpkin purée
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted (vegetable or canola oil may be substituted)
1/4 cup unsweetened plain or vanilla almond milk (other milks may be substituted, including coconut, soy, cow)
2 tbsp mild or medium molasses
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (regular-sized chips may be substituted, use about 1 1/4 cups, or use 6 to 8 oz chopped dark chocolate)

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a nonstick 12-cup standard muffin pan with floured cooking spray, or grease and flour the pan; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, and salt, if using, to taste; set aside.

3. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the sugars, pumpkin, oil, milk, molasses, and vanilla until combined.

4. Pour the wet pumpkin mixture over the dry ingredients, and stir until just combined; don’t overmix. Batter will be quite thick; if yours seems too thick, add an additional small splash of milk to thin it.

5. Fold in the chocolate chips.

6. Divide batter equally among wells of the prepared pan. Each well will be just under three-quarters full (don’t exceed three-quarters full or they could overflow). When pouring batter into muffin wells, use a quarter cup measure that’s been coated with cooking spray; the batter will slide right out.

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7. Bake for 18 minutes, or until tops are domed, puffed, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs dangling, but no batter.

8. Allow muffins to cool in pans for about 10 to 15 minutes before removing and placing on a rack to cool completely. Muffins will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Photo: Courtesy of Cooking With Pumpkin.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies With Maple Buttercream
Yields 6 generously stuffed pies

Prep Time
10 minutes. Bake time 12 to 14 minutes.

Cookie Ingredients
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
3/4 cup pumpkin purée
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
Pinch salt, optional
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Maple Buttercream Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 tbsp real maple syrup (or 1 tsp maple extract)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tbsp cream or milk, optional

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F and line two baking sheets with nonstick silicone baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.

2. Make the cookies. In a large mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, oil, pumpkin, egg, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, pumpkin pie spice, cloves, allspice, and salt, if using, to taste, and whisk until smooth.

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3. Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda, and stir until just combined. Batter will be soft and on the runny side, more like cake batter than cookie dough.

4. Using a quarter-cup measure sprayed with cooking spray, scoop mounds of batter onto prepared baking sheets, six mounds per sheet. Alternatively, use a plastic food-storage bag with the corner snipped or a pastry bag with a large round tip.

5. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until tops have set. Cookies will be very soft and may look underdone, but will firm up as they cool. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for at least 10 minutes before moving them to a rack to finish cooling. Allow cookies to cool completely before filling them.

6. While cookies cool, make the buttercream. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter on high speed for 1 to 2 minutes. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl.

7. Add the maple syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon, and beat on high speed until incorporated, about 1 minute; stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl.

8. With the mixer running on low speed, add the confectioners’ sugar slowly, about ½ cup at a time, and gradually increase mixer speed to high. Beat for 3 to 4 minutes, or until sugar is incorporated and frosting is fluffy. If necessary to achieve desired frosting consistency, you may need to add a splash of cream and adjust the sugar ratio slightly.

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9. Apply a generous dollop of frosting to 6 cookies. Sandwich them together with the remaining unfrosted cookies, creating 6 whoopie pies.

Whoopie pies are best fresh, but extras may be stored airtight in refrigerator for up to three days. If you plan to store these at room temperature, the frosting may be made with vegetable shortening instead of butter.

Photo: Courtesy of Cooking With Pumpkin.

Baked Cinnamon-Sugar Pumpkin-Spice Mini Doughnuts
Yields about 1 dozen mini doughnuts

Prep time
10 minutes. Bake time 10 minutes.

Doughnut Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
Pinch salt, optional
1 egg
3/4 cup pumpkin purée
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp vanilla extract

Coating Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray mini doughnut pan and doughnut hole pan (or mini muffin pan) with floured nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

2. Make the doughnuts. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and salt, if using, to taste, and whisk to combine; set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the egg, pumpkin, buttermilk, oil, sugars, and vanilla, and whisk until smooth. Slowly pour wet ingredients into the dry, and stir until just combined. Batter will be lumpy and thick. Don’t over-mix to try to smooth it out.

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4. Spray a small spoon with nonstick cooking spray (this will help the batter slide off easily), and spoon the batter into the doughnut pan wells, filling each about two-thirds to three-quarters full. The pan is small and there is no easy way to do this without spattering.

5. After all the wells are filled, I go back around with a paper towel or my finger to wipe off any excess batter.

6. When filling the doughnut hole pan (or mini muffin pan), fill each well to about three-quarters full. Fuller wells create more domed and globe-like donut holes.

7. Bake donuts for about 10 minutes, and donut holes for about 11 to 12 minutes, or until they have domed, puffed, and are springy to the touch. Cooking times will vary based on pan sizes and fullness of the wells. Allow doughnuts and doughnut holes to cool in pans for about 5 minutes before turning out onto wire racks.

8. While the doughnuts cool, make the coating. Melt the butter in a small microwave-safe bowl, about 1 minute; set aside.

9. In a separate small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice, and stir to combine; set aside.

10. After the doughnuts and doughnut holes have cooled enough to handle, quickly dip them, one by one, into the butter and dredge in the coating mixture. Serve immediately.

Doughnuts and doughnut holes are best enjoyed fresh, but will keep airtight at room temperature for up to three days. If you don’t plan to consume the whole batch at once, only dip and coat what you intend to consume to extend shelf life and prevent sogginess.