In defense of a love for pumpkin
There is no way to justify it and no need.
I. Love. Pumpkin.
Those who know me well can vouch for this. It started with pumpkin pie when I was a kid and blossomed as I learned to experiment with cooking and baking.
For me, there is something about the creamy, smooth texture, and the natural sweetness that’s not too cloying -- unless overspiced with the usual suspects (cinnamon, clove, ginger, nutmeg).
When sifting through the many tweets, stories and posts I scan each day, I perk up when I come across any recipe that does something interesting with pumpkin.
My family is patient. They like pumpkin, but not as much as I do, and suffer from pumpkin fatigue, especially in the Fall.
Right now, the my email inbox includes recipes for:
- savory pumpkin quiche
- pumpkin chocolate chip oatmeal cookies
- pumpkin smoothies
- brown sugar pumpkin squares
- pumpkin fettuccini
- pumpkin spice granola
And the list is much longer than that.
Currently, I have two favorites and one failure:
First, the pumpkin frozen yogurt from the shops that sell YoCream’s froyo. A guilt-free delight that has both pumpkin flavor and spice. I intend to make mini frozen tarts with crushed Biscoff crumbs in my cupcake pan.
My other find is the pumpkin “harvest” cookies from Great Harvest Bakery. Not too sweet, not too spiced. They are chewy but not rubbery. They taste more like what I would call a breakfast cookie than a baked dessert cookie.
Which brings us to my semi-failure: The Hungry Girl recently posted a recipe for “pumpkin softies” that looked like they resembled the GH cookies. I am not going to call them a success -- or a disaster. They tasted OK. And I probably would’ve liked them more if I had not tried the Great Harvest cookies first. Also, the nutritionals are decent for those trying to watch their diets.
This weekend’s quest: The classic pumpkin bar recipe, but instead of plain cream cheese in the frosting, I am going to use my tub of Trader Joe’s pumpkin cream cheese. I’ll report the frosting outcome here if it’s notable or if it’s a disaster. And be assured, this is not the last post you’ll read from me about pumpkin.
