Pumpkin Pie for two | Small batch baking

When it comes to baking, I always try to scale down the recipe. Its because a)it is just the three of us and b)if it goes the wrong way then I dont have to ditch a whole lot of ingredients. That being said, I had always wanted to try my hands on homemade pumpkin pie but something told me that this will not be sold that well in the house. And so I made pumpkin pie for two.

Let me talk about the batter first and then lets move on to the pie itself. The recipe that I have here makes more filling than needed. So I made another batch of the dough and made mini pumpkin pies for pappu's preschool. Moving on to the pie, if you are a lover of spices then pumpkin pie is your piece of cake. Its not that sweet, its not overpowering and the spices kinda tingle your palate. Allow the pie to cool completely and then stick it into the fridge overnight to get neat slices. And as for the decorations, they are totally optional but since I was in the mood I made small leaves and flowers and baked them separately and then stuck them onto the pie.

For the Crust: All purpose flour - 3/4 cup Cold butter - 2 tbsp, cut into cubes Cold vegetable shortening - 2 tbsp, cut into cubes Salt - 1/4 tsp Granulated sugar - 1/2 tbsp Ice cold water - 2 tbsp For the filling: Eggs - 1 + 1 egg yolk Pumpkin puree - 7.5 oz Whipping cream - 1/4 cup Light brown sugar - 1/2 cup Ground cinnamon - 1/2 tsp Ground ginger - 1/4 tsp Ground cloves - a pinch (1/16 tsp) Salt - 1/4 tsp How I Made it: Lets make the crust first. Mix flour with salt and sugar. Work the butter and shortening into the flour until it resembles pea sized peas. Add the water by tbsp just enough to bring the dough together. Form a ball, put into a ziploc bag and refrigerate for 30 mins. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl whisk together all the pumpkin filling ingredients until well combined. Grease a 6" pie plate with non stick cooking spray and set aside. Roll the dough out on a floured surface, crimp the edges together to make a pretty pattern. And set aside. Pour filling into the prepared pie shell and bake for 30-35 mins or until set, the center might jiggle a little. Cool for 30 minutes on a wire rack. Then, pop it into the fridge overnight.

Slice and serve with some whipped cream!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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Whole wheat Chocolate Swirl Pumpkin Squares with Cinnamon Sour-cream Dip

I know that you are wondering yet how many pumpkin recipes does this girl have in her kitty. I do have some more and you sure gonna like them. Back when I was in India we used to get pumpkins through out the year. Amma has never used it in her dishes and so have I. Only when I started baking and browsed for recipes did I come to know that pumpkin puree can be used in baked goodies. Thanks to baking and the halloween funda, I wanted to use pumpkin in my baking and I got our very first pumpkin to make these pancakes just to check if the flavor worked with our palate. We liked it, in fact we loved it and since then I have been buying pumpkins whenever I see them in the market.

These squares happened by chance. It was late in the night when amma said that the dosa batter which was planned to be used up for the next day breakfast had gone bad, (thanks to the current fluctuations) and asked me if I could make something easy for the next day breakfast. I had some pumpkin puree that need to be used up and quarter a cup of melted dark chocolate which I had been saving up to make brownies. Thought of putting 'em together and these soft, delicious squares were made in minutes. The dip is purely optional, the squares goes well with some cold milk too, but I strongly recommend you to try them with the dip. The additional cinnamon touch that the dip gives makes them perfect...

~*What U Need*~ Wheat flour - 3/4 cup All purpose flour - 1/4 cup Egg - 1 Pumpkin puree - 1/2 cup Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp Sour cream - 2 tbsp Cinnamon - 1/4 tsp Baking powder - 1/2 tsp Baking soda - 1/4 tsp Hot water - 1/4 cup Oil - half of 1/3 cup Salt - a pinch Brown sugar - 1/4 cup Melted dark Chocolate - 1/4 cup How I Made it: Preheat oven to 180 C and grease and dust a square pan. I didn't have a square pan and hence used a loaf pan. Sift wheat flour, all purpose flour and baking powder in a bowl. In a mixing bowl, beat oil and sugar together. Add egg, and beat well. Stir in pumpkin purée, sour cream and vanilla followed by salt and cinnamon. Stir in flour, just until combined. Add baking soda to hot water, stir to mix, and then mix into batter until it is evenly distributed. Spread batter onto the greased pan. Add the melted chocolate and swirl with knife. Bake for 30-40 mins. Do a done-ness test and cool in the pan for 5 mins. Transfer it to a wire rack to cool for completely before slicing. Cinnamon Sour-cream Dip ~*What U Need*~ Sour cream - 1/2 cup Cinnamon - 1/4 tsp Brown sugar - 2 tbsps Chopped walnuts - 1 tbsp How I Made it: In a bowl, mix everything together till well blended except the walnuts. Transfer to serving bowl and top with chopped walnuts.

Serve the pumpkin squares with the dip!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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Wholewheat Flaxseed Pumpkin Bread | Yeasted Bread Recipes

Baking a soft, cottony, just-like-the-one-you-get-from-the-store bread is one thing that I have always wanted to do. But try as much I never get that texture but I don't get calcium proprionate, lecithin, polysorbate 60 and sodium propionate and many more preservatives in my diet when it comes to home made fresh bread. And when I replace the white flour with home milled whole wheat flour it becomes all the more healthy. So whenever I have time, I try and bake some whole wheat bread. It turns out dense always but when it comes to your very own hard work, you enjoy it nevertheless.

I love adding fruit purees to my breads and so when I had some pumpkin puree ready to be used some way or the other, I thought making a whole wheat pumpkin bread was the right choice. I made it healthy by replacing 1/4 cup of the said flour with flaxseed powder. Healthy all through. It was dense but "good" dense and I served it with some fresh strawberry preserve.

~*What U Need*~ Water - 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp Sugar - 1/2 tbsp Active dry yeast - 1/2 tbsp Pumpkin puree - 1/4 cup Salt - a pinch EVOO/Canola oil - 1/2 tbsp Wheat flour - 1 cup Flaxseed - 1/4 cup How I Made it: In a large bowl, add 2 tbsp of warm water, sugar and yeast and allow to froth. Add all the other ingredients and knead for 5 mins to a soft dough. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let rise for one and a half hours or until doubled. Once doubles punch down the dough and shape into a loaf. Place shaped dough in parchment lined or greased bread pan. Allow to rise for 30 mins. Bake at 180C for 35-40 mins.

Enjoy warm with a dollop of butter and strawbeery preserve.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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Wholewheat Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes with Dates Syrup

Sometimes it so happens that me and the kid play till 12.00 am into the night and it mostly happens on Friday ~ the happiness that the next two days are holidays and the thought that we have two whole days to spend quality time together clings to both of us and its just non-stop playing. And once we fall asleep, it takes a big deal to wake us up... And waking for breakfast is generally out of question... Its usually a simple brunch for Saturdays and Sundays.

Lazy me, I usually make a simple toast with sunny side up egg for me and scrambled eggs with toast for the huss. But these days, I prefer trying something new, something that is simple and something that can be whipped up in a matter of minutes.. like these pancakes. They are soft, moist and fluffy that you will never believe that all you need is simple, pantry staple ingredients. And if you are out of pumpkin puree or if it is not in season, then replace it with other fruit purees like strawberry, banana, dates or fruits of choice.

The batter is easy to whip up~ measure, whisk, pour and your breakfast is ready. I prefer making them healthy and so I use whole wheat flour or atta. But you can use all purpose flour too. I however prefer the wheat version, it gives that nuttiness which makes a difference. Serving it with the dates syrup gives enough sweetness and so you can even skip adding the sugar.

Soft, moist, fluffy pancakes with sweet dates syrup

~*What U Need*~ Whole wheat flour - 2/3 cup Quick cooking oats - 1/3 cup Baking powder - 1 tsp Baking soda - 1/4 tsp Cinnamon - a dash Egg - 1 Vanilla - 1/2 tsp Pumpkin puree - 1/3 cup + 2 tbsps Buttermilk - 1 1/3 cup Sugar - 2-3 tbsps (optional) Dates syrup: Water - 1/4 cup Dates - 10, pitted

How I Made it:
In a bowl combine flour, oats, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. In another bowl, whisk egg, pumpkin puree and vanilla together.

Add the buttermilk and sugar and beat well. Slowly combine wet ingredients with dry ingredients. Fold gently.

Heat a griddle, pour 1/4 cup of batter. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until bubbly then flip and cook for another 2 minutes. To make the dates syrup, soak the pitted dates in warm water for 10 mins. Blend to a smooth syrup.

Serve the pancakes warm with honey and dates syrup.

** My Notes:
** You can skip the egg and make it eggless
** Since I served it with dates syrup and honey, I skipped the sugar.
** You can add some chocolate chips or walnuts too.
** You can replace the buttermilk with skimmed milk or normal milk too.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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Pumpkin Puree | how to make pumpkin puree at home

Next halloween, people in the US think twice before you go to grab a can of pumpkin puree and Indian bloggers don't drool over all the Halloween pumpkin specials floating around the food blogsophere. Here is the recipe to stop all that drooling ~ a homemade pumpkin puree recipe. Imagine all the goodies you can make with this. Give a whole new makeover to your morning breakfast with freshly baked pumpkin bread or wholewheat pumpkin pancakes. Give a twist to your regular brownies and make some pumpkin blondies. Oh, ideas seem to be flowing non-stop and all I am having is 2 1/2 cups of Pumpkin puree.

I made this during the season of Halloween and for the next few weekends my whole house was smelling of freshly baked pumpkin goodies. Oh bet me, nothing can beat that aroma. We have been having whole wheat pumpkin squares with cinnamon sour cream dip and wholewheat pumpkin pancakes with honey for breakfast and white chocolate chunks pumpkin blondies for dessert... A whole new breakfast menu and the huss was totally satisfied to see something different on his breakfast plate.

~*What U Need*~ Makes - 2 1/2 cups approx Pumpkin - 1, smaller variety Oil - to brush

How I Made it:
Cut the pumpkin into half and scoop out the seeds. Do not throw away the seeds. They can be roasted. Cut the pumpkin halves as shown below and rub oil on their skin.

Place the pumpkin cut side down on a baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven at 200C for 30-35 mins. When done, a fork or skewer inserted will pass through smoothly. Remove, allow to cool and when able to handle, scoop out the flesh. Take this in a blender and blend till smooth.

If too chunky add a few tbsp of water. Strain this to remove fibres and store till use.

Homemade pumpkin puree ready!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

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