Will Run For Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal

I'm not sure why my cousins thought that ice-cream cake & homemade wine was a good idea but who was I to argue.  These are the same cousins that thought it would be a good idea (so I didn't exactly argue) to text a picture of a birthday cake and an inappropriate hand gesture to our cousin who forgot about his own cousins dinner.  Perhaps we shouldn't have let the cousin who had been drinking send the text....sorry Clare who knew J couldn't be trusted to type in a telephone number correctly.

So after too much ice-cream, wine, and a Sunday run I decided to skip out on mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and stuffing and instead make baked oatmeal with some of my favourite fall ingredients: pumpkin, cranberries and maple syrup.

baked pumpkin oatmeal with apple butter

oats, allspice, dried cranberries, cinnamon

soft silken tofu, vanilla, maple syrup, soy milk

30 minutes later baked oatmeal

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal

ingredients

2 C old fashioned oats

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp allspice 

1 C soy milk

1/2 block soft silken tofu drained

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

1/4 C dried cranberries

3 Tbsp local maple syrup

1/2 C canned (or roasted or boiled) pumpkin

Preheat oven to 400 F.

In your favourite corningware combine oats, dried cranberries, cinnamon & allspice.

In your blender combine soy milk, pumpkin, drained tofu, vanilla, & maple syrup.  Blend until well combined.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and combine thoroughly.  Allow to bake for approximately 30 minutes uncovered.

Top with apple butter, additional soy milk or maple syrup.  Maybe share with a friend.

This Thanksgiving I'm thankful for pumpkin, cousins parties, and two very sleepy dogs.

Will Run For Pumpkin Scones

Last week was the last big run (18 kilometres but we'll pretend that it was 19) before the half-marathon which happens in a week (note to self stop eating ice-cream cake and start drinking water).  Last week I ran for pumpkin scones.

pumpkin scones & apple butter 

flour + oats + cinnamon + ginger + nutmeg + tumeric + cloves

pumpkin + oil + vanilla bean paste + maple syrup

add wet ingredients to dry

bake for 12 minutes at 450 F.

add delicious apple butter 

water your kitchen helper 

Spicy Pumpkin Scones

(10 scones)

ingredients

1 C unbleached flour

1/2 C wholewheat pastry flour

1/2 C old-fashioned local oats

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup  canned pumpkin or my favourite roasted hubbard squash

3/4 C soy milk (almond or dairy works too)

1/4 C olive oil

1/4 C local maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2  tsp ginger

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp turmeric

12 tsp unrefined sugar (to sprinkle on top of scones just before baking)

Preheat oven to 450 F. 

In a large bowl combine flours, oats, baking powder, salt, spices.

In a medium bowl combine pumpkin, olive oil, maple syrup & vanilla.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and add wet ingredients.  Gently combine.  Resist the urge to over mix unless you enjoy shoe leather.  

Use your 1/4 C measuring cup to place batter on a baking stone.  Sprinkle with sugar.  Bake for  12 minutes. 

Top with apple butter.

Will Run For Triple Ginger Crackle Cookie Ice Scream Sandwiches

Triple Ginger Crackle Cookie with Pumpkin Ice-Scream

I love everything ginger, everything cookie and everything ice cream!  I've reworked my favourite gingersnap recipe from Homemaker's magazine (don't ask) with some help from Jae Steele's Get It Ripe From Around Here  and Mama Pea from peasandthankyou.com .

I won't lie. I was half expecting the cookies to either turn out like cardboard or a mushy mess.  I figured worst case scenario I would just eat the dough out of the bowl (what isn't there to love about molasses, three kinds of ginger, and brown sugar?) or freeze it and add it to my pumpkin ice scream.  Luckily the cookies were delicious!

TRIPLE GINGER CRACKLE COOKIES
Makes 24 + 3 (the ones that you need to taste test)

Ingredients

1/4 C crystallized ginger (finely chopped)
1 Tbsp fresh ginger (finely chopped)
2 C whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 earth balance (or butter/margarine)
1/2 C demerara sugar (or brown sugar)
1/2 C granulated sugar ( I used Camino Golden Cane Sugar) * save 1/4 C for rolling
2 Tbsp molasses (fancy)
1 flax egg (equals 1/4 C)
1/4 C pureed pumpkin (I used canned pumpkin)

Preheat oven to 350F

In a medium sized bowl (save your biggest bowl for the wet ingredients) combine flour with baking soda, ground ginger, finely chopped fresh and crystallized ginger, cinnamon and salt.

In a separate bowl beat Earth Balance with brown sugar and 1/2 C of granulated sugar with an electric mixer (if you have one) until smooth.  Add molasses, pumpkin and flax egg mixing until also smooth.   Placing the bowl in the refrigerator for a few minutes makes it much easier to roll the cookies into balls.

Place remaining granulated sugar in a large shallow bowl.  Form small dough balls (eat one of two or maybe three).  Roll balls in sugar.  Place on cookie sheets (I used a baking stone that I preheated in the oven).  Flatten with a fork or your hand.  Place about 5 cm apart.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Let cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

Enjoy soft chewy goodness!

finely chop ginger

finely chop crystallized ginger

make sure there are no ginger clumps...hot!

add dry ingredients to wet ingredients

roll balls in granulated sugar

remember to flatten with fingers or fork

oh my goodness!

If you manage not to eat all of the cookies ice-scream sandwiches are the next step. 

 PUMPKIN ICE-SCREAM

(2 large servings)

I mostly just throw everything in the blender until it "looks right" (said in my grandmother's voice) but here is a tasty recipe.

Ingredients

*2 C frozen pureed pumpkin

2 C soy, almond or dairy milk (I use So Nice Unsweetened Soy)

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg (I used freshly ground)

1 tsp allspice

2 tsp vanilla paste (or use vanilla bean or worst case scenario vanilla extract)

**2 scoops PC Vanilla Soy Protein Powder (optional)

Blend everything together in your blender.  Blend, blend and blend some more until it has the consistency of soft serve.  Whatever you do make sure there are no pumpkin chunks because that's enough to send anyone over the edge.  Or you could make sure that there are chunks and then you'll never have to share again.   I like to add 1 3/4 C milk and then add the last 1/4 C as needed.  Elbows out and enjoy! 

 If you are making ice-scream sandwiches it can be helpful to place the ice-scream in the freezer for 10 minutes or so until it firms up.  You can store these tasty treats in the freezer for a few days if you wrap them in wax paper.

* I freeze pureed roasted pumpkin in silicone muffin cups in 1/2 C portions.

** If you choose not to use the protein powder you might want to add maple syrup or molasses as a sweetener or use a sweetened soy milk or add a very ripe frozen banana. 

Pumpkin ice-scream on it's own

blend

save some for ice-scream sandwiches

hide in freezer behind frozen tempeh