Pumpkin, Pumpkin and more Pumpkin: Recipes 5

This is my mom’s recipe and one of my favorite applications for pumpkin. Sadly, there are no pictures because if I made these I’d be too tempted to eat two with coffee in the morning, one after lunch, maybe one for snack, a few after dinner…see, bad things happen when I make these. Plus add in the temptation of all the Halloween candies around my house and I’m sure you’ll understand why I am only sharing the recipe and not making the cookies for pictures.

If you have more self control than I do, by all means, go, right now, make these yummy cookies!

Pumpkin Cookies

1 Cup Sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup pumpkin

1 Tsp baking soda

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cloves (or 1/2 tsp cinnamon)

1 cup nuts (pecan or walnut)

Cream the sugar and the shortening together until light and fluffy. Add in the egg, then the pumpkin. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, soda, salt and spices. With the mixer on low, add the flour to the wet ingredients until incorporated. Using a wooden spoon, mix in the nuts.

Drop by spoonfuls onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 15-18 min.’s

These are great as they are but are even better with a light powder sugar glaze over top. Just mix ½ cup powder sugar with enough water (1 tsp at a time) until a thin runny consistency. Drizzle over top of the cookies and serve with a good cup of coffee.

Yum!

Pumpkin, Pumpkin and more Pumpkin: Recipes 4

Pumpkin Pancakes

I just made up a huge tripple batch of these for breakfast tomorrow and then extras to freeze for later. They freeze really well but I do reccomend putting a  squair of parchment paper between each pancake to help pull them apart once they're frozen.  

Pumpkin Pancakes

2 cups Pumpkin

1 cups flour

1 ¼ cup milk

1 egg

2 Tbsp melted butter

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

3 Tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp salt

In bowl mix the pumpkin, milk, egg, butter and sugar. In another larger bowl, combine the flour with the remaining ingredients, substituting pumpkin pie spice for the other spices if you prefer. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing until just incorperated. Don’t over mix. Let stand for 5 min’s then cook on a hot griddle until bubbles form, flipping and cooking for another 1-2 min’s.

Serve with syrup, powdered sugar, cream cheese or all three combined.

Yum!

Pumpkin, Pumpkin and more Pumpkin: Recipes 2

Pumpkin Brown Sugar Body Scrub

Ok, I assume by this point you’ve followed directions in my first pumpkin post. So, grab a bag of the mashed pumpkin out of the fridge and lets get started on one recipe.

Pumpkin Brown Sugar Body Scrub

Ingredients:

2 cups Pumpkin puree

2 cups Brown Sugar

1 cup White Sugar

2 tbsp Salt (Sea Salt is best but table salt will work as well)

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp ground ginger

1 cup oil*

* I prefer ¾ cup Neutrogena unscented body oil and ¼ cup unscented baby oil. I always have these on hand as I use the Neutrogena for massages and the baby oil after a shower. The combo of the two, unscented, gives a nice glide, leaves your skin soft but not greasy. You can use Olive Oil, Walnut Oil, Grape Seed Oil or all Baby Oil, or an experiment of any blend you prefer. Remember the smell of the oil will be mixed with what ever seasonings you add in so be sure they combine well.

In a large glass or metal bowl, combine the ingredients and mix with a metal or plastic utensil.

Although it may be tempting to add more of the seasonings to enhance the smell, I would not recommend it as they all can have a burning effect on the skin when used in large quantities.

Dish out the mix into glass or disposable plastic containers, approximately ¼ cup per container. Because this mix has food in it, you need to store it in the fridge and use it with in 3 days. When I make a batch I either share with friends and family or, dish into freezer zip top bags, well labeled, and freeze for use later.

To thaw, just set on the counter or run under warm water until a reasonable temperature. Because of the oil, the mixture shouldn’t freeze fully so thawing time will be short.  

This mix is great to use before you shave as it removes all the dead skin cells around your follicles and creates a closer shave. I don’t even use any shave cream when I shave after a scrub as the oil is a great moisturizer.

Do Not use after you shave since the mix has salt in it! It will burn and ruin the whole relaxing experience!