Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cinnamon Cream Cheese Scones

I inadvertently eat a lot of gluten-free meals, mainly because I don't always have pasta or bread at the meal.  But I had never tried gluten-free baking.  Having a gluten-intolerant friend over for brunch forced me to do some experimenting.  I wanted to make some sort of flavored scone.  I love pumpkin anything, so that was an easy go-to.  My first thought was to use graham flour instead of wheat flour, however I couldn't find any.  After looking at the ingredients label for graham crackers, I knew I couldn't use those.  So I bought gluten-free pancake mix.  The mix contains rice flour, and ingredients to aid in rising and to prevent too much crumbling.   After that, I just added in butter, an egg, and the flavorings.  It was very easy, actually.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cinnamon Cream Cheese Scones

What you'll need:
1 1/4 cups gluten-free pancake mix
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup sugar
4 tbsp cold butter
1 egg
1/3 cup, plus 1 tbsp pumpkin puree
1/3 cup cinnamon cream cheese
2 tbsp nonfat milk
egg white to brush tops of scones

Icing:
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tbsp nonfat milk
1 tbsp cinnamon cream cheese

What to do:
1.  Preheat oven to 425*F.  Mix together all dry ingredients (pancake mix through sugar).  Cut up butter and add to dry ingredients.  Using your hand, pinch together the butter and dry ingredients until mixture looks crumbly.

2.  Add the egg, pumpkin puree, cream cheese, and milk to the dry mixture.  Mix with a wooden spoon until blended evenly.

3.  Form into a ball and flatten out in a disc 1/2" thick.  Cut into 8 equally sized triangles.  Bake 14 minutes until the scones are golden brown.

Separate the scones by about one inch.  If you run out of room, you can line them up in rows.

4.  Combine all ingredients for the icing.  When scones have cooled slightly, drizzle or spread icing over scones.  Recipe makes 8 scones.

Pumpkin Mushroom Bean Soup

I guess this should be called a soup.  Its hearty like chili because of the mushrooms and beans.  Its creamy like a puree soup and has lot of veggies like a chunky soup.  So call it what you want.  This makes a lot!  So it's good for game day, or having a few friends over for a warming, hearty dinner.

Pumpkin Mushroom Bean Soup

What you'll need:
- 8 oz cremini
- 8 oz white button
- 4 oz shitake
- 1 large white onion, chopped
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup apple cider
- 1/2 cup chopped carrot
- 1/4 cup chopped parsnip
- 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp fresh rosemary
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 2 cups pumpkin puree (about 1 small pumpkin), or squash puree
- 1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt

What to do:
1.  Clean mushroom by brushing with a damp paper towel.  Chop all mushrooms into uniform size or use a food processor to mince evenly.  I recommend mincing only 8oz at a time.  Heat a large, flat saute pan on medium heat.  Add mushrooms and stir occasionally for about 5 - 6 minutes.

2.  In a large pot, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat.  Add chopped onion and stir frequently for about 3 - 4 minutes.  Add garlic and stir another 3 minutes.  Add in apple cider and simmer 2 - 3 minutes.  Add carrot and parsnip and stir about 5 minutes.  Add in beans and the next 7 ingredients (through cayenne) and keep at a low simmer covered for 10 minutes.  Stir occasionally, but try to keep track of the bay leaf.  When the 10 minutes is up, remove the bay leaf and add in the pumpkin puree and stir to mix.  Reduce heat to the lowest level and set for 15 minutes.

3.  Scoop into a bowl and top with 1 tbsp yogurt.  Recipe makes 6 servings.

This recipe can also be prepared in a slow cooker.  Saute the mushrooms in a skillet, then add everything to the crock pot and let sit for a couple hours, stirring occasionally.

Pumpkin Cake Pops

My sister is actually the baker of the family.  It is a well-known fact.  People even joke that we would have the best restaurant if I cooked the food and Jen baked the dessert.  So when birthdays come around, my sister is always creating these awesome-tasting and awesome-looking cakes.  So when my sister's birthday came around this year and my mom wasn't in town to help me, I was a little worried.  I really wasn't even sure what angle I was going to take.  My inspiration came pretty easy after having a 10 minutes conversation with Jen about all things we love about pumpkin season.  We were talking about making pumpkin gnocchi, that time I made pumpkin chili, pumpkin ravioli.  So I quickly decided to make some kind of pumpkin dessert.  After thinking about it more, I decided to do a pumpkin cake dessert bar.

Using fresh roasted pumpkin, I made two different types of cake pops: pumpkin cake and pumpkin brownies.  I then had a couple different dips: caramel sauce, cheesecake pudding, and pumpkin-spiced icing.  I also had different toppings: crushed toffee, crushed cinnamon graham crackers, and sprinkles.

When baking, I need to use a recipe as a guide or else cakes turn out flat, gritty, or in some other way far from perfect.  So the pumpkin cake recipe is based on a Food Network recipe, with some minor alterations.  The pumpkin brownies were easy.  I used boxed brownie mix and substituted half of the oil for pumpkin puree.

Pumpkin Cake Pops

What you'll need:
For the Pumpkin cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup nonfat milk
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1 cup pumpkin puree (canned or fresh, see previous recipe for roasting fresh pumpkin)

For the icing:
- 8oz cream cheese
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice

To make the cake:
1.  Preheat oven to 375*.  Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin spice with a whisk.  Set aside.

2.  In a bowl, combine eggs and sugar and mix with an electric mixer.  Mix in milk, then oil, then the pumpkin puree.

3.  Add the dry mix to the pumpkin mixture using a wooden spoon.

4.  Spray a 9x13 baking pan and pour cake batter into it.  Bake 25 - 28 minutes.  Cool cake in pan for 5 minutes, then remove and cool completely on a cooling rack.

5.  Mix together all the ingredients for the icing in a bowl using an electric mixer.

To make the cake pops:
1.  Using pumpkin cake or pumpkin brownie, place cake in a bowl.  Using a fork, break apart cake until it is all small crumbs. Add about 3/4 cup icing to the cake crumbs and mix together.

2.  Spray your hands with nonstick cooking spray.  Use your hands to mix the cake and icing completely and to form into 1" spheres.  If the cake falls apart, it needs a little more icing to hold it together.  Place cake pops on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Place in freezer for one hour.  Take out of the freeze and put cake pop sticks in each one.

3.  Cover with icing and roll in crushed graham crackers.  Or make a caramel sauce to dip in and then roll in crushed toffee.  You could also melt Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kiss to dip in, or crush the kisses and use as a topping.

Roasting Pumpkin

Canned pumpkin puree is available year-round, but when fall is here it's good to use fresh pumpkins.  You can really taste the difference!  Plus, roasting a pumpkin makes your home smell so delicious!  It's very easy to do, too.

First, pick up a sweet pie pumpkin.  Sometimes they're just called a pie pumpkin.  They look like miniature versions of carving pumpkins.  Preheat the oven to 425*F.

Cut the pumpkin in half lengthwise.

Scoop out the seeds and all the stringy stuff.  Keep this if you wish to roast the seeds.

Place each half of the pumpkin with the hard skin side up on a rimmed baking sheet.  Fill a cup with water.  Put the baking sheet and pumpkin in the oven.  Before closing the door, pour water into the rimmed baking sheet.  Pour enough to cover the bottom.  Bake 20 - 30 minutes, until the skin is browning and easily pressed in.  If you plan to puree the pumpkin, roast at least 25 minutes.  If you plan to cut up the pumpkin, roast closer to 18 to 20 minutes.

Take the pumpkin out of the oven and let cool.  Use a fork to puncture the skin and lift the skin off.  Alternatively, you can flip the pumpkin half over and scrape the pumpkin off of the skin.  When you have all the pumpkin, put it in a food processor and puree.