Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies

One of my favorite fall treats is the two ingredient cake.

Have you heard about it?

It's sometimes called the "Weight Watchers Cake." You simply mix one box of cake mix with one 15oz can of pumpkin puree. That's it. No other ingredients. You'll be tempted add some liquids because the mixture is quite thick, but resist the urge. It bakes into a dense cake.

I like to bake it in muffin tins, and recently decided - since it's so thick - to see what would happen if I used my cookie scoop to portion the batter out onto a cookie sheet. It bakes up into sweet pumpkin spice cake-like cookies.

Then I had a jar of marshmallow fluff in the cupboard and somehow a knife found its way to the jar and it schmeared some marshmallow fluff onto a cookie.

Heaven.

Yes, the cookie is a bit thick to be considered a whoopie pie, but it works for me!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies 

Cake

1 box of spice cake mix

15oz can of pumpkin puree

Filling Ingredients

1 cup shortening

1 jar (7.4 oz) marshmallow fluff

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix the cake mix and pumpkin until thoroughly combined. Do not add any extra ingredients - batter will be very thick.

Use a cookie scoop and drop batter onto cookie sheet.

Bake 15 minutes or until done (a toothpick inserted into the center will come out clean).

Remove and cool.

In the bowl of a mixer, combine all filling ingredients and mix until the filling is light and fluffy.

Once the cookies are cool, sandwich a heaping spoonful of filling in between two cakes.


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Makes 15 whoopie pies  |   10 Weight Watchers PointsPlus 

Pumpkin Spice Rice Pudding

Know what my sweet downfall is?

Creamy. Anything creamy.

I love puddings and cheesecakes and desserts made out of whipped cream. Remember Dirt? Did your mom ever make it for you? My mom made it on special occasions. It's ground Oreos, chocolate pudding, and Cool Whip mixed together with gummy worms hidden inside. I could eat a whole bowl of it.

We never had rice pudding growing up. Not sure why...probably because we didn't eat rice too often and when we did, we'd eat it all up. I had my bestie over for dinner the other night and made rice to go along with a dish. There was plenty left over and I didn't feel like eating it "as is." I hunted through the fridge and found a leftover can of pumpkin puree, and figured...let's go for it. Pumpkin Rice Pudding was born. It's a warm, comforting, autumn dessert. You could also eat it for breakfast - not like I did that or anything.

Quick note to my friends doing Weight Watchers: I made this recipe with 1 PointsPlus homemade coconut milk. I ran other milks through the recipe builder including skim, 1%, 2%, and unsweetened almond milk, and the PointsPlus values did not change. If half of a cup doesn't sound like enough to you, try bulking it up by stirring in a diced pear - so good!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Pumpkin Rice Pudding

2 1/2 cups cooked rice
3 cups unsweetened coconut milk (like this)
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
2/3 cup agave (maple syrup or honey will work, too)
1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped
1 Tlbs vanilla extract
1 Tbls cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice

In a large sauce pan over medium-high heat, place the pumpkin. Slowly whisk in the coconut milk and agave. Add spices, rice, dried cranberries, and stir. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently, until the rice has soaked up most of the liquid, around 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Makes 12, 1/2 cup servings   |   4 Weight Watchers PointsPlus 

...or... 

Makes 6, 1 cup servings   |   7 Weight Watchers PointsPlus

Pumpkin Pecan Granola

How could I have forgotten to share this recipe?

Last year I made this pumpkin pecan granola by the truck load. This year, not so much since this isn't apart of my raw foods lifestyle. But last year? Ummmm.... I stuffed pre-portioned baggies in my purse to take with me to work. I handed them out at my Weight Watchers meetings like I was the Great Granola Pusher. Practically every weekend I was making a batch. Yet I never shared the recipe with you.

My apologies.

Reasons why I loved this so much last year? It tasted like fall. It was crunchy and clustery - the way I like my granola. It had pecans in it, and I love pecans. It wasn't oily. It was low in fat and high in nutrition. It had pumpkin in it. It had pumpkin in it. And it had pumpkin in it.

I suggest getting some snack size baggies and pre-portioning the granola out otherwise you'll keep reaching for more and more and not realize that you've had too many servings. I took the oatmeal containers, wrapped them in pretty wrapping paper, and then store the baggies in there. Try sprinkling 1/4 cup (half portion) of the granola over some vanilla yogurt mixed with canned pumpkin and some cinnamon. YUM!

Pumpkin Pecan Granola
Recipe adapted from The Pastry Affair

3/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 tsps pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups old fashioned oats
2 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 cup pecans
1 cup puffed wheat
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla extract until smooth.

Add the oats, pecans, and puffed wheat, and stir until everything is coated and you have a moist mixture.

Spread the granola mixture on to the parchment lined baking sheet. I like to leave small clusters of the mix. Those are my favorite parts of granola.

Bake for 20 minutes and stir the granola around. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. Cool completely on the pan. Scatter the dried cranberries and raisins on top of the granola, toss, and then store the cooled granola in an air tight container.


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Servings 14 | Serving Size: 2 oz (or a scant 1/2 cup)
Calories: 165 | Fat: 4.1 | Carbs: 30 | Fiber: 3 | Protein: 3

{4 WW Points+}

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

You need to have an adventure-seeking, iron will to make this.

Why?

Because peeling a pumpkin isn't for weenies.

If you've never tried peeling a pumpkin, you really should try it. Frankly, I think everyone should try it at some point in their life. The satisfaction one receives after peeling a pumpkin is akin to the feeling of finishing every single item on the to do list: accomplishment, pride, and then the general feeling of wanting to wear a sign that says, "I AM AWESOME. RAWR."

Peeling a pumpkin also drastically improves one's prayer life. Here's how my prayer went, "God, please don't let me cut myself, please, please, please, oh, please don't let me cut myself."

Peeling a pumpkin also increases one's gratitude quotient. I became grateful for the muscles in my forearm, grateful for band-aids in case I needed them, grateful for whomever invented the canned form of pumpkin...

If, at this point, you've decided to make this smoothie, you are clearly Type A and more than likely an aggressive first born or middle child. I would be the Type A, first born daughter, and middle child combination. And I would peel a pumpkin again because of the satisfaction it gives me. Call me crazy.

Honestly, this smoothie IS delicious. When I took my first sip, I thought, "Starbucks... you can't touch this."

Make sure you're using an organic pie pumpkin, since those pumpkins are made for eating. You don't want to use the ginormous ones you use to carve. Muscle up and peel that bad boy, and if you have a food processor, shred it up. Otherwise, consider yourself a true champion when you grate the pumpkin by hand. I am not a true champion. I busted out that food processor.

My little pumpkin gave me 4 cups of grated pumpkin. I bagged them up in 1 cup portions. Some I've used to make more smoothies; the rest I've frozen to pull out later to incorporate into a bread or cake instead of using shredded carrots.

Questions you might have about this recipe...

Can I use canned pumpkin? I'm sure you can, but I haven't tried it so I don't know how it works. Let me know if you try it!

Homemade coconut milk. You've got to be kidding me. Can I use something else? Sure! It's what I had on hand, so use your milk preference - dairy, almond, pecan, hempseed, etc.

Cashew butter? Can't I use something else? Sure. I'd go with almond butter or a mild tasting nut butter. You don't want a peanut butter pumpkin pie smoothie. Or maybe you do. But if you don't, you could leave it out altogether. I'm including it for good fat and satiety since I'm having it for breakfast.

I don't have dates. What else can I use? Use whatever sweetener you'd like. I just like dates since they are a naturally sweet fruit. Try using 1 Tbls of a liquid sweetener like honey or maple syrup.

Any idea on what to use in place of pumpkin pie spice? Yup! Click here for recipe to make your own.

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

1 cup shredded pumpkin
1 ripe banana
1 cup homemade coconut milk
3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp cloves
1 date
1 Tbls cashew butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Blend all the ingredients until smooth. Drink it up!

Easiest Pumpkin Spice Latte Ever

You are about to be introduced to one of the greatest things ever. A friend told me about this, and SHE got it from the lady who works at Trader Joe's, who probably was told about this by her cousin Louisa, thrice removed, on her mother's side of the family.

Or probably not.

Moving on.

We're talking about the world's easiest way to make a pumpkin spice latte: coffee plus pumpkin ice cream. I've tried countless versions of homemade pumpkin spice lattes and they either tasted goopy from the pumpkin or chalky from the spices. This is the winner to me. And it's a no brainer to make.

But let's be real for a moment.

Nothing can compare to a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. It's awesome. How do they do it? Starbucks puts magic in their lattes. Plain and simple. And then they stir it with the horn of a unicorn that's been dipped in sugar while we're busy checking our iPhones. That's how. And that's why one grande pumpkin spice latte costs almost $5. Never mind the fact that a half gallon of ice cream is somewhere around $3.50, and we could get two 1/2 gallons of ice cream for the cost of two Starbucks grande lattes.

So my disclaimer: nothing will taste as awesome as a Starbucks pumpkin spice latte. But here's how to make the world's easiest pumpkin spice latte that's pretty stinking enjoyable.

Pumpkin Donuts AKA "Taste of Heaven"

"Um...we are awesome."

"Um...we are ridiculously amazing."

"Our parents would be so proud of us right now."

"I feel like a such a grown up!"

"I could drink that maple glaze."

"Everyone in the world wishes they were in this kitchen right now."

"Forget you, Dunkin Donuts!"

"How many do you think we can have? Oh. Wait. We're ADULTS. We can have as many as we want!!"

It was a culinary achievement that started with an amazing roasted chicken, rosemary garlic roasted potatoes, and maple glazed carrots for dinner (recipes for them tomorrow). To say that the bestie (Tatiana) and I were a little complimentary to ourselves would be an understatement. And really, if you decide to go through the trouble of making these pumpkin donuts, you will be saying similar things too. They were, in a word, amazing. There is something truly gratifying about making a donut at home and being completely uninhibited and concerned about dropping dough in hot oil, frying it, rolling it around in sugar, and eating it. There must be freedom from concern about calories and fat. Trust me...Tatiana and I felt complete freedom.

A note about this recipe: this recipe makes a truly delicious cake donut. My dough chilled for 8 hours, so you could definitely make this the night before and cook them in the morning. The dough is very sticky - so sticky that you will wonder if you did something wrong. The temptation is to knead more flour into it, but resist the urge because this doesn't make a bread dough. Use enough flour to dust your work surface so that you can pat the dough out without it sticking. I didn't have a donut cutter, so I used an old Pampered Chef "Cut 'N Seal" and pastry tip to cut the hole. Make sure to keep the oil between 365-370 degrees and keep checking it. It makes the world of difference. Our oil got too hot, so the outsides of a few donuts were cooked before the insides got done. Boo. We got a little crazy and made the traditional donut shaped, donut holes, and donut dunking sticks.

For the cinnamon sugar topping, I used my own vanilla sugar (squeal!) mixed with some cinnamon, but you could make regular old cinnamon sugar by 1 cup sugar with 1 Tbls cinnamon (more or less as you like).

For the spiced maple glaze: combine 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice, 2 tbls real maple syrup, 1 Tbls hot water (or more to get to a glaze consistency).

The donut recipe was found via Annie's Eats (whose pictures of the donuts made me want to make this recipe and are infinitely better than mine). Rather than reprint it here, go visit her blog - she even has a printer ready version of the recipe. Also, be sure to check out Pinch of Salt (from whom Annie's Eats adapted the recipe). She has some great "cooking process" photos and tips.

Happy donut making!

Creamy Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

I've become a pumpkin fanatic.

I don't know what's come over me.

I was at The WalMarts (that's what we call it here in Arbutus) on Saturday and saw the cans of Libby's Pumpkin stacked so artfully on a display that I couldn't help myself.

I put one in the cart.

It looked at me.

It was whispering, "Just me? Jussssst me? Why not get another? Two is better than one righttttt?"

Please tell me I'm not the only one that has food talking to them.