From bread to cookies to coffee to pasta, pumpkin recipes are plentiful. Enjoy pumpkin for breakfast, dinner, and dessert.
While canned pumpkin is available year-round, fall seems to bring out the pumpkin lover in many of us. Serve these three recipes at one sitting, or if that’s a little too much pumpkin for you, spread them out over a week or a month. Fall will be around for a while, so there’s plenty of time to enjoy this seasonal fruit.
Pumpkin Bread
Contributed by Glenda Prichard – “This is one of my favorite recipes for the fall months. The bread will be very moist.”
Makes 2 loaves
Ingredients
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3.4-ounce package instant lemon pudding mix
3.4-ounce package instant butterscotch pudding mix
½ cup chopped pecans
15 ounces pumpkin puree
2 cups sugar
1 ½ cups canola or vegetable oil
5 eggs
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two loaf pans. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, pudding mixes, and pecans. In another bowl, stir together pumpkin, sugar, oil, and eggs until smooth. Mix dry ingredient mixture into wet ingredient mixture until uniform. Pour into loaf pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
Kitchen Tip
To significantly lower the fat in this recipe, substitute ¾ cup of oil with ¾ cup natural applesauce.
Ravioli with Pumpkin Cream Sauce
Contributed by Kalee Lundmark – “This sauce is savory, creamy, and delicious! It’s lower in calories by using fat free evaporated milk instead of cream, and you’d never know it.”
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
10-ounce package frozen cheese ravioli
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 small onion, finely diced
½ cup pumpkin puree
pinch nutmeg
¼ teaspoon rubbed sage
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
12 ounces fat-free evaporated milk
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
Cook the ravioli according to package directions and drain. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and saute the onion until soft and translucent. Add in pumpkin, nutmeg, sage, pepper, and salt, and allow to cook for 1-2 minutes. Whisk in evaporated milk and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently. Simmer for 3-4 minutes until mixture has slightly thickened. Whisk in Parmesan; stir until melted and remove from heat. Add cooked ravioli to sauce and toss; serve with extra Parmesan for sprinkling.
Kitchen Tip
To make this a freezer meal, simply make the pumpkin cream sauce, let it cool completely, then freeze it in a gallon-sized freezer bag. When ready to serve, defrost the sauce overnight. Heat it gently on the stovetop, then cook the ravioli and toss together with sauce.
Glazed Pumpkin Cookies
Contributed by Sheila Craig – “This is my mom’s recipe, and one of the best things about these cookies is the older they get, the better they taste.”
Makes 4 dozen
Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
⅛ teaspoon salt
¼ cup chopped nuts
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Blend in pumpkin, egg, and vanilla. Mix in flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and nuts. Drop tablespoonfuls of dough 3 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until golden around the edges. Cool on racks at least 30 minutes, then spread with penuche glaze.
Penuche Glaze
3 Tablespoons butter
¼ cup milk
½ teaspoon maple flavoring (increase, to taste, if desired)
½ cup dark brown sugar
1 ½ to 2 cups powdered sugar
Directions
Heat butter and brown sugar in a medium saucepan until bubbly. Cook, stirring constantly, for one minute, or until slightly thickened. Beat in milk. Remove from heat and add maple flavoring and enough powdered sugar to make it a smooth, spreadable consistency.
Kitchen Tip
For this recipe (and the other two) make sure you are using 100% pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling, which is already sweetened and has other ingredients.
Pantry List
Pumpkin Bread
baking soda, cinnamon, flour, eggs, oil, salt, sugar
Ravioli with Pumpkin Cream Sauce
black pepper, butter, nutmeg, onion, sage, salt
Glazed Pumpkin Cookies
baking powder, baking soda, butter, dark brown sugar, egg, flour, light brown sugar, milk, powdered sugar, pumpkin pie spice, salt, sugar, vanilla
Shopping List
Pumpkin Bread
pecans, pudding mixes, pumpkin puree
Ravioli with Pumpkin Cream Sauce
cheese ravioli, evaporated milk, Parmesan, pumpkin puree
Glazed Pumpkin Cookies
pumpkin puree, maple flavoring, nuts
This article originally appeared in HomeLife Magazine. HomeLife is looking for family-friendly, budget-conscious, original recipes from readers like you. Simply email us your recipe, name and contact info to homelife@lifeway.com. We will pay $25 for each recipe that is printed. We regret that mailed submissions cannot be accepted. Recipes become the property of HomeLife and may be edited prior to publication. Share your recipe with HomeLife!
