Pumpkin Biscuits

I love breakfast for dinner. I tweeted a few weeks back that breakfast for dinner always seems like a treat. Several people commented back that it was the same for them as well. I wonder why that is.

Last week when I made Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread, I mentioned a recipe for Pumpkin Biscuits that came from the same cookbook. When I first saw that recipe I knew instantly that I wanted to make them. I even bought whole wheat pastry flour at Whole Foods this weekend specifically for this recipe.

When I was planning the menu for the week, I wanted to plan something that would go well with the biscuits. Breakfast was the best (and my favorite) option.

I am so glad I made these biscuits. They basically taste like regular biscuits with a slight hint of pumpkin and spice. The amount of sugar in them is perfect. It’s just enough so there is a hint of sweetness, but the sugar doesn’t overpower the biscuits or make them into a dessert.

Pumpkin Biscuits (makes 16-20 biscuits) – from Pumpkin: A Super Food for all 12 Months of the Year

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 c. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, cut into small pieces
1 c. canned unsweetened pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flours, sugar, baking powder, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together in food processor. Add the butter and pulse a few times, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Dump the mixture into a large bowl. Stir in the pumpkin and mix until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Scrape the dough onto a floured surface and knead a few times, adding a little flour if it is very sticky. Pat the dough into a 1/2 inch circle and cut biscuits with a 2-inch biscuit cutter. Place biscuits 1 inch apart on a baking sheet and bake for 12 -15 minutes, until risen and lightly browned.

I ate two of the biscuits, one when it was fresh from the oven and another one with my dinner. They were so tasty with just a little bit of butter.

I had the biscuits with some breakfast potatoes, peppers and onion. I also had two eggs and one egg white scrambled with a little cheese.

It was perfection.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

I don’t use my cookbooks nearly often enough. Also, there has been a major pumpkin shortage in my life. I have hardly eaten any of it since Christmas.

My friend Luke gave me a cookbook for Christmas and for some reason, it has taken me this long to use it. I don’t know why because there are tons of mouth-watering recipes in it.

I decided to make pumpkin bread as my first recipe from the book. I just changed up the recipe a little. I used egg whites instead of whole eggs and applesauce instead of oil. I also decreased the sugar and the amount of chocolate chips just a bit. The end result was a wonderfully light and moist bread that had a hint of sweetness and spice and was loaded with nuts.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread – adapted from Pumpkin: A super food for all 12 months of the year (makes one loaf)

2 egg whites
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. canned unsweetened pumpkin
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
1 1/2 c. flour (I used 1 c. white and 1/2 c. wheat flour)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 c. chocolate chips (I used white chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk the egg whites, sugar, pumpkin, and applesauce in a large bowl until well blended. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt and nutmeg into the pumpkin mixture. Fold in the nuts and chocolate chips. Pour batter into greased loaf pan. Bake 45-50 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. Cool completely before slicing.

Wonderful recipe! There is also a recipe for pumpkin biscuits in the cookbook that I have my eyes on.

Sweet Potatoes

I have recently fell in love with sweet potatoes. It was only a couple of weeks ago that I discovered sweet potato fries. And before that, I don’t even remember the last time I tried a sweet potato. Maybe never? I know, it’s hard to believe. But ever since I first tried sweet potato fries, I have had them several times because they are so tasty and much more nutritious than regular potatoes.

Several weeks ago, I checked out a cookbook from the library, Vegan Cookies. In this book, I saw a recipe for Sweet Potato “Blondies” that I have been dying to try. A dessert that has a vegetable in it has to be good for me, right?

It all started with a single sweet potato.

I did make a few changes so that it wasn’t vegan (let’s face it, I’m no vegan) and I used white chocolate chips instead of nuts (I can’t really eat nuts right now and regular chocolate gives me migraines). Also, I made a few changes in the process because it called for sifting and I don’t have a sifter. They still came out so incredibly tasty! They are sinfully good, extremely moist, and taste like an actual blondie. Make these now!

mixing the batter with some delicious white chocolate chips

the beautiful blondies before going into the oven

the blondies after being cooked . . . pardon the big hole in the middle. My husband REALLY wanted to make sure they were done.

Sweet Potato “Blondies” – as adapted from Vegan Cookies

3/4 c. cooked, well-mashed sweet potato
1/2 c. olive oil
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. dark brown sugar
1/4 c. nonfat milk
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 c. all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 c. chocolate chips
1/2 c. toasted chopped nuts of your choice (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 8 x 8 inch square pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In large bowl, mix sweet potato, oil, sugar, brown sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice. Mix flour mixture in with wet mixture and combine just until moistened. Mix in chocolate chips and nuts, if using. Do not overmix.

Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, checking the bars at 25 minutes by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake. Bars are done if the toothpick comes out mostly clean. Be careful not to overbake. Allow the bars to cool for 30 minutes for the texture and flavors to fully develop. Makes 12 bars.

so freaking good

Cookbook Fanatic

Before we get to the title of this post (cookbooks!!), I’ll say a little about today’s meals and give a very easy recipe for egg salad. This morning when I woke up, I didn’t know whether I was hungry or nauseous. Is anyone familiar with that feeling? I knew I needed to eat something, but there was no way I was going to be able to eat my granola and peach parfait that I wanted to. So I decided on my favorite food: tomato soup. Sometimes lunch is okay for breakfast right? And I got a serving of veggies in as well so it’s all good.

For lunch, it was so tough to decide because seriously we were running out of food. Good thing we were scheduled for a grocery run today. We needed one STAT! I decided on an easy dish of egg salad. I know a lot of people make their egg salads differently and sometimes it can be fatty with all the eggs and mayo. I want a lot of food without all the calories. Is that too much to ask??

I actually take two hard boiled eggs and then one hard boiled egg white and mix those together. More bang for your buck if you take that third yolk out. I don’t use any mayo at all. I use dijonnaise. I like my egg salad tangy. Dijonnaise is a creamy combo of mayo and dijon mustard . . . and it has only 10 calories! It is super yummy! I have used this stuff in everything.

a watched pot never boils!

Egg Salad

2 hard boiled eggs
1 hard boiled egg white
1 tablespoon dijonnaise
chopped up celery/green pepper
salt and pepper to taste; pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)

Chop up hard boiled eggs and egg white. Mix in other ingredients very well. Serve with crackers, bread, or lettuce and enjoy!

In addition to the egg salad, I bought side salad at the grocery store and a fruit cup. Tasty and nutritious lunch!

I am such a cookbook fanatic. I love them. I have quite a few on my shelf. I have tried several recipes out of every one of them and sometimes I will go months without using one. But each one is precious to me.

I am always wary about buying cookbooks sight unseen online. Usually, if I am in a bookstore I will scan through it and if I see several recipes I want to try then I buy it. Online shopping is a bit tougher. That doesn’t stop me from doing it though.

Imagine my delight when I found a totally inexpensive way to check out some cookbooks before buying them: the public library! I had no idea they had cookbooks available to check out. I have already checked out one cookbook: Cooking Light: the 5 ingredient, 15 minute cookbook.Honestly, there were about 5 recipes I wanted to try in the whole book. Other than that, it wouldn’t be worth buying. Others may like it, but there were a lot of ingredients that I knew would have MSG in it and such. I guess the fewer ingredients, the more processed it gets. Today, I got Vegan Cookies and Veganomicon: the Ultimate Vegan Cookbook. The latter one was recommended by Anne P. at Fannetastic Food.

I am, in no way vegan. I love meat and I love dairy. But I thought these books would have some interesting recipe ideas. And they do. So far, I have seen several things I would like to try. I’ll have to read up on them a little more to see if I will indeed buy them, but it does look promising. I feel like a kid on Christmas with two cookbooks! The funny thing is that Corey scoffed at me when he heard the title Vegan Cookies. And yet, there he was looking through it ten minutes later and he actually found a cookie recipe that he wanted us to try.