During the COVID-19 pandemic, with everyone staying home, many can relate to going on a Cooking/Baking Craze, spending a week baking Sourdough Bread, Making 5 different kinds of Banana Bread, Whipping Coffee, etc. Even though the limitations and restrictions have begun to slowly lift, many still have spent their days quarantining at home.

These three recipes use Autumn Food Staples, which you may even be able to reuse from other activities up until Thanksgiving. The Pumpkin Seeds can be saved from carving pumpkins and turned into a healthy, and delicious snack, instead of ending up in the trash. You can use leftover pumpkin pie puree and various spices from Thanksgiving, to make the Snickerdoodles.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

For this first recipe, I really wanted to create something that was similar to a Pumpkin Spice Latte, while not being too challenging or using strange ingredients. This recipe is a riff on a classic Snickerdoodle Cookie, but with pumpkin, and extra warm spices to play up the Fall aesthetic. This soft cookie embodies the perfect mix of crunch and chewiness that people are so controversial about.

Recipe

Serving Size: 3 dozen

Recipe Time: 30 min

Ingredients

• 1 Cup of Softened Butter
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 Cup White Sugar
• Half Can of Libby’s Pumpkin Puree
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Teaspoons Vanilla
• 3 1/2 cups Flour
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 tablespoon Dry Coffee
• 1 tablespoon Cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg

Cinnamon-Sugar Mix:

• 1/2 cup White Sugar
• 1 tablespoon Cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon Ground Coffee
• 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg

Directions

1. Preheat Oven to 350 F. Prepare Baking Sheet by spraying with non-stick spray.
2. In a bowl, mix together Flour, Salt, Baking Soda, Dry Coffee, Cinnamon, and Nutmeg.
3. In another bowl, mix together Softened Butter, Brown Sugar, and White Sugar, and whisk together for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. One mixture has lightened in color, add eggs, vanilla and mix for another minute. Once that is incorporated, add Libby’s Pumpkin Puree and mix until just combined.
4. Add dry mixture slowly, while whisking in between each addition, until dry mixture is fully combined with wet mixture. (If the dough feels excessively sticky and is hard to scoop onto baking sheet add flour ½ cup at a time)
5. Once dough is ready, prepare the Cinnamon-Sugar Mix in another bowl by adding all ingredients and stirring to combine.
6. Scoop dough out into whatever size you prefer, and roll around in Cinnamon-Sugar Mix and add to the baking sheet.
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown, and the top of the cookie is set, and let rest until cool.

Optional Additions:

• Add clove in same parts of nutmeg to add more warm spices
• Add toasted walnuts or any other nut to cookies to add texture, or chocolate chips if feeling extra spicy.

Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

Every Halloween, when my family carves pumpkins, we notice all the pumpkin seeds are going to waste. My mom takes it upon herself to repurpose the seeds into an amazing snack by adding different kinds of seasoning, and glazing them in butter and sugar. This recipe includes two different mixes, which you can choose from, one sweet, and one spiced with fall spices. When carving pumpkins, we usually keep one bowl for seeds, and one bowl for pumpkin pulp so that cleaning the seeds is easier when making this recipe. If you don’t have a pumpkin to scoop seeds out of, you can easily find ready-washed pumpkin seeds at the store.

Recipe

Serving Size: Per 2 cup Pumpkin Seeds (about 1 pumpkin)

Recipe Time: 50 min

Ingredients

• 2 Cup Pumpkin Seeds
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• Sweet Mix:
  • 1/2 tablespoon Butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon Brown Sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon Vanilla
• Spiced Mix:
  • 1 tablespoon Honey
  • 1/4 teaspoon Cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground Ginger
  • Pinch of Cayenne Pepper

Directions

1. Spray Baking Sheet with Non-stick Spray
2. Rinse Pumpkin Seeds under cold water until pulp is completely removed, pat dry, and add to the baking sheet.
3. Sweet Mix:
   1. Toss with Olive Oil and roast for 40 minutes, or until completely dried and golden brown. Toss with salt to taste.
   2. Melt Butter and Brown Sugar in a pot until melted and dissolved and add cinnamon, and seeds. Mix together and Serve.
4. Spiced Mix:
   1. Toss with Olive Oil and roast for 35 minutes, or until completely dried and golden brown.
   2. Toss seeds on Baking Tray with Cumin, Cinnamon, Ginger, and Cayenne Pepper and continue to roast for another 5 minutes.
   3. Once seeds are completely dried and golden brown, remove from the oven, add salt to taste, and top with a drizzle of Honey, and Serve.

Pumpkin Bread

This Recipe is credited to the Bon Appetit: BA’s Best Banana Bread, which is one of my favorite banana bread recipes I’ve ever made (mm, yes, the flavor is immaculate). This is my spin and edits, which I included to add more depth to the original recipe. The Pumpkin Puree can easily be substituted with 4 very ripe bananas, as that’s what the original recipe calls for anyways. The Chocolate Chips and Walnuts are optional, but both add so much to the end result that they are totally worth adding.

Recipe

Serving Size: 1 loaf

Recipe Time: 1 hour, 20 min

Ingredients

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 11/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1¼ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup (½ stick) butter
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla
• 1 can Libby’s Pumpkin Puree
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray Non-stick cooking spray on loaf pan (8 ½ by 4 ½)
2. Whisk together Flour, Baking Soda, Salt, Cinnamon, and nutmeg in a separate bowl.
3. Whisk together Softened Butter, Sour, Cream, and Dark Brown Sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy (about 4 minutes using an electric mixer(6 for hand whisk).
4. Add eggs one at a time and whisk in between. Once eggs are incorporated, add vanilla and whisk until incorporated. Add 1 can of Libby’s Pumpkin Puree and whisk into batter.
5. Next, add flour, mix a little at a time, and mix until fully incorporated. Next fold in Chocolate Chips, or Chopped walnuts if doing so.
6. Bake bread until a toothpick comes out clean, about 60-70 minutes, and let cool completely.

Optional Additions:

• Can substitute Libby’s Pumpkin Puree for 4 very ripe bananas, as that is what the original recipe calls for.
• Can add pumpkin seeds (or spiced pumpkin seeds) to bread if desired for extra pumpkin flavor.