Put Those Pumpkins to Use

Norman_Steel
Norman_Steel Posts: 6
edited October 2014 in Recipes
If you're like me, you're wondering what you can you can do with that pumpkin you're gonna carve into a jackolantern.
Well, what you're gonna do with it besides carve it into a jackolantern anyways.
You're bored of simply roasting the seeds and there's not enough spare meat in a jackolantern pumpkin to make a pie, so what can you do?
You can bake cookies.

The first thing you want to do is soak the pumpkin seeds; these will become your flour. Soak them overnight. There will be about one cup of seeds in your pumpkin.

Secondly you'll want to scrape as much meat (not guts) out of the pumpkin as you dare. Cutting some off of the lid is a great shortcut here. Cover it and microwave it for five minutes. Then toss it in a blender (with water) or food processor until you have pumpkin puree. Hopefully you'll have a half cup of this. If not then you may need to scrape more, get a second pumpkin, or just buy some canned pumpkin puree. This will replace butter.

Now it's the next day. Roast or dehydrate your seeds now, whichever you prefer. After that's done you need to grind up your pumpkin seeds into "flour". Use a food processor or a high speed blender or a coffee grinder or and old-fashioned mill or whatever you want; what's important is that you grind the seeds until it's a uniform powder with no large pieces. The first time I made these I didn't grind the seeds all the way. The cookies tasted fine but they felt a little weird to chew.

Now the pre-preparation is done, and you can begin.

For a dozen pumpkin cookies, you need:
  • ground pumpkin seeds - 1 cup
  • pumpkin puree - 1/2 cup
  • baking powder - 1/4 tsp
  • sugar - 1/2 cup
  • egg - 1
  • vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp
If you want to double this recipe, you need a second pumpkin. If you want to double this recipe, don't double the egg.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

Mix your dry ingredients in one bowl and set it aside.

Cream the puree and sugar together in another bowl. Now beat in the egg and vanilla.

Now mix the contents of both bowls together.

In twelve scoops of about one tbsp, put the dough onto the baking sheet. It's okay if the dough seems greasy or too fluid; that's just the oils from the pumpkin seeds. Flatten out the balls of dough now; they won't spread too much in the oven.

Bake for 18 - 22 minutes.

And that is how you make a dozen pumpkin cookies.

The macros of these will come out to about 5g of fat, 10.7g of carbs, and 3.5g of protein at 93 cal per cookie.

Replies

  • klkateri
    klkateri Posts: 432 Member
    Awesome!! I will be trying this! I just roasted some seeds and they are good but a touch burnt so maybe this is a good way to turn them into a yummy treat!! I love that there isn't much to these and that they look fairly good for you too!!
  • climbing_trees
    climbing_trees Posts: 726 Member
    I find that the flesh of carving pumpkins does not taste nearly as good as baking/pie pumpkins.

    Though, this is a very creative solution! :)
  • Norman_Steel
    Norman_Steel Posts: 6
    edited October 2014
    I find that the flesh of carving pumpkins does not taste nearly as good as baking/pie pumpkins.
    I'm aware of that, but you won't end up tasting the puree anyway. These come out tasting like a cross between a peanut butter cookie and a sugar cookie.
  • reesecup30
    reesecup30 Posts: 5 Member
    Thanks for the recipe I will be trying these! I love pumpkin!
  • reesecup30
    reesecup30 Posts: 5 Member
    I loved this person's recipe for paleo pumpkin muffins! I used coconut flour though and I added ginger, clove, and allspice as seasonings. so bomb!

    http://holisticallyengineered.com/2013/12/pumpkin-spice-muffin-minute.html

    Ingredients

    1/4 cup almond flour
    1/4 tsp baking soda
    1/4 tsp cinnamon
    1/4 tsp nutmeg
    3 Tbsp powdered sweetener (or use honey for Paleo)
    1 Tbsp coconut oil or grass fed butter + more for greasing the ramekin
    2 Tbsp pumpkin puree
    1 large pastured egg
    1/4 tsp vanilla
    1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

    Instructions

    Lightly grease two 4 1/2" ramekins.
    In a small bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients.
    Add the remaining ingredients and stir to thoroughly combine.
    Divide the batter evenly into the ramekins and microwave for 1 minute 20 seconds (up to 1 minute and 30 seconds or until set) or bake these muffins at 350 F for 15-17 minutes or until cooked through.
    Run a knife along the edge of the ramekins and remove the muffins.
    Serve with butter or ghee.

    Notes

    Net Carb Count*: 3.42 g net carbs (for 1 muffin)--makes 2 muffins

    Total Carb Count: 5.92 g total carbs (for 1 muffin, plus the carbs for the sweetener)

    *Note net carb count = Total carbs - fiber. Carb counts are estimated based on the products I used. Check nutrition labels for accurate carb counts and gluten information.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    This should come with a warning of some sort. I know you're aware....but for everyone else..... Jack-o-lantern pumpkins are NOT the same as pumpkins for puree.

    Pumpkins for puree are smaller, darker orange, and have a higher sugar content. I wouldn't be using Jack-o-lantern pumpkin puree for anything that required a lot of it....1/2 cup....tops.
  • channi_c
    channi_c Posts: 47 Member
    great thanks x
  • Lynn_babcock
    Lynn_babcock Posts: 220 Member
    I use the big pumpkins for meals. I make them into a vegetable with dinner and I also use the big ones for pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread. I bake for side income and people say my pumpkin bread is the best they've had. Cheapest thing in the produce aisle... 18 cents a pound here.. can't beat that. I boil it until its soft, scrape it out of the shell then take a stick blender to it.. no strings when that's done. Had to tweak the recipes but it's worth it when you can buy a huge pumpkin so cheap.
  • debbaanne
    debbaanne Posts: 3 Member
    The big pumpkins are excellent for making soup.