Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies

The original recipe I adapted this from was my sister in law's signature thanksgiving cookie. She makes these with chocolate chips. Chocolate is nice....But I thought these would go better with butterscotch!

Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup Vanilla Olive Oil
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin
2 tbsp molasses
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (optional)
1 egg
1 1/2 cups butterscotch chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix the olive oil, the sugar and the egg together until creamy. Gently stir in the pumpkin and molasses. Take all the rest of the dry ingredients and whisk them together in a medium sized bowl. Combine that with the wet ingredients slowly, mixing well in between each addition so that it is well combined.  Stir in the chips.

Drop onto ungreased cookie sheets in rounded tablespoonfulls. Bake 12-13 minutes. Their color is already a bit darker because of the pumpkin, so don't wait too long for them to brown.

Spicy Pumpkin Pockets

I bought some pie crust on sale this week and thought that it would be great to make a pumpkin pie. A pocket pie!

Pocket pies, or hand pies are probably my favorite species of pie. You can fill them with anything and they are portable. And there is a great ratio of filling to crust.

I think that the Rosemary Olive Oil would be great with this as well.

Spicy Pumpkin Pockets

1/2 pkg refrigerated pie crust
2-4 turkey slices, optional
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper
1 tbsp Chipotle Olive Oil + 1 tbsp for brushing
1 tsp minced garlic
2 slices provolone cheese
pinch ground sage
pinch nutmeg

Bring the sleeve of pie crust to room temperature and unroll it. If there are any breaks, dip your finger in warm water and gently smooth it over the break to join the broken places back together. Slice in half and set aside.

Combine the spices in a large bowl with the pumpkin puree. Stir until combined and taste for salt. Add the olive oil and stir.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment paper or spray it with non-stick spray. Place the dough onto the dish. Layer 1/4 cup of the mixture and some turkey slices on one side of each of the dough half-rounds. Gently wet the very edge of the pastry and fold it in half, pinching or pressing to close. Brush the tops with the remaining olive oil.

Bake for 15-25 minutes. The filling doesn't need to be cooked, just the crust. Keep a watch on it so it doesn't get too brown.

Pumpkin Peanut Butter Chili

A little while ago, I made Pumpkin Hummus. It was very good. But I did have some leftovers, and while my grandfather visited last week, he thought that it was soup and heated it up and ate it. He said it was very good soup.

So pumpkin and beans and a little bit of sweetness in a soup... I can do that. This reminds me very much of African Groundnut Stew. Except with no chicken and a lot of beans! 

Pumpkin Peanut Butter Chili

2 cans black beans

1 can red kidney beans

1 medium onion, diced

1 cup prepared TVP*

12 oz pureed pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling

1 cup peanut butter or other nut butter

1/4 cup agave syrup

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp paprika, smoked

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 tsp cumin

2 cups vegetable broth

1 6oz can tomato paste

1 12oz can of crushed or pureed tomatoes

4 tbsp Chipotle Olive Oil

1 tsp minced garlic

Rinse and drain the beans and put them aside in a large bowl.

Put the TVP, garlic, onion and the olive oil in a large stock pot and heat to medium high. Saute around for 5-7 minutes. The garlic should be nice and fragrant, but the TVP should not be burning.

Add the vegetable stock and the ground spices. Bring it to a low simmer and stir until all the spices dissolve, or at least distribute well. Taste test for flavor and spiciness. Add a bit more cayenne if you want, and a bit more black pepper than you think you need.

Stir in the tomato paste slowly. When it has dissolved around, do the same with the pumpkin and the peanut butter. You want it to be pretty smooth at this point except for the TVP and onions floating around.

Now add the beans and tomatoes. Cover and bring to a high simmer. Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently.

Stir in the agave syrup in the last minute or two of cooking. Serve with pumpkin seeds, fried onion bits or really anything you want.

*TVP, or Textured Vegetable Protein is generally a soy based filler food. You find it in so many commercial products, including a lot of store brand chili's! But it is a good substitute for ground meat in recipes. It has lots of protein and takes on the flavor of whatever you are cooking it with. You can usually find it in the organic or natural aisles of your supermarket. Or you can just add another can of beans.

This is a vegan meal, but you could always play with that a bit. Instead of TVP, next time I am going to add some blended garbanzo beans. It worked for the hummus/soup, it will work for this. You can use ground meat if you want and meat broth instead of veggie broth. And if you don't have agave, honey is fine.