Plain Canned Pumpkin Vs. Canned Pumpkin Pie Filling

When cooking with canned pumpkin, read the label carefully to be sure you have the proper ingredients for your recipe. Cans of plain pumpkin and pumpkin pie filling are stocked side by side in the store. They have similar-looking labels, and the two products may resemble each other in appearance -- but they have VERY different cooking uses and are not interchangeable. 

Plain Canned Pumpkin Uses

Plain canned pumpkin is versatile and can be used as an ingredient in both sweet and savory dishes, such as puddings or soups, stews and pastas... also delicious in baked goods like cake, cookies, pancakes, breads and muffins.

Canned Pumpkin Pie Filling Uses

Because canned pumpkin pie filling already contains sweetening and flavorings, you need to only add eggs and evaporated milk to prepare a custard filling ready to pour into a pie crust and bake. If you want to use pumpkin pie filling for a dish other than pumpkin pie, it's best to follow a recipe that specifically calls for it. Don't substitute pumpkin pie filling for plain pumpkin in a recipe…that would not be a good thing.

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Make this homemade pumpkin pie spice!  Most of us probably already have these spices on hand… so it is a little thrifty and so much better than the premade at the store!

Ingredients:

3 tbs. ground cinnamon

2 tsp. ground ginger

2 tsp. nutmeg

1 ½ tsp. ground allspice

1 ½ tsp. ground cloves

Combine all spices in a bowl and mix well to combine… Store in a small jar or spice container.

Graveyard Pudding Cups

So easy to make, it's scary.  A cute dessert ready for your goblins to gobble up before you can say boo. Great for classroom parties too!

You will need:

Oreos

Chocolate snack pudding cups

Ghost Peeps

Candy pumpkins

1.  Using a food processor or a rolling pin and Ziploc bag, finely crush the Oreos.

2.  Open up the pudding cups and sprinkle the Oreo crumbs on top.

3.  Place a Peep ghost in each cup.

4.  Top each cup with a candy pumpkin.

That's it, you're done.  Really, I mean it.  Do I feel guilty that these are so frightfully easy to make?  Nope - just wickedly smart. 

           Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake Dip

What can I say… this ranks pretty high on the scale of dips to Love!  This is Fall my friends… this is Fall.

Ingredients

·       2- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened

·       2 cups powdered sugar

·       1 cup canned pumpkin

·       ¼ cup sour cream

·       1¼ teaspoon cinnamon

·       ½ teaspoon nutmeg

·       ¼ teaspoon cloves

·       ¼ cup caramel sauce

Instructions

1.  In a mixer, combine cream cheese and powdered  sugar until frosting consistency.

2. Add pumpkin, sour cream, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Mix until it is fully incorporated.

3. Pour the caramel sauce on top and create a marble look by swirling with a knife.

4. Serve with graham crackers, cinnamon sugar pita chips, or gingersnaps.

             Pumpkin Cheesecake Snickerdoodles

I love the smell of pumpkin and spices…

Therefore I love these cookies! Pumpkin and Cream cheese all wrapped up in the ever popular Snicker doodle.  Make these and I promise they will be gone that same day. 

If you are a smart cookie you will hide a few.  

Ingredients

·       3¾ cups all-purpose flour

·       1½ tsp. baking powder

·       ½ tsp. salt

·       ½ tsp. ground cinnamon

·       ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

·       1 cup unsalted butter, room temp.

·       1 cup granulated sugar

·       ½ cup light brown sugar

·       ¾ cup pumpkin puree

·       1 large egg

·       2 tsp. vanilla extract

Filling Ingredients:

·       8 ounces cream cheese, softened

·       ¼ cup sugar

·       2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cinnamon-sugar coating:

·       ½ cup granulated sugar

·       1 tsp. ground cinnamon

·       ½ tsp. ground ginger

·       Dash of allspice

Instructions

1.     In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Set aside.

2.    In a mixer with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugars on medium high speed until fluffy about 2-3 minutes.

3.    Blend in pumpkin puree, beat in egg and then add vanilla. Slowly add dry ingredients on low speed just until combined. Cover and chill dough for an hour.

4.    To make the cream cheese filling, blend cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together. Chill for an hour.

5.    Preheat oven to 350 and line your baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and spices for the coating and set aside.

6.    To make the cookies, take a tablespoon of the cookie dough and flatten it like a pancake and place a teaspoon of the cream cheese filling in center. Form another tablespoon of the cookie dough into a flat pancake shape and place on top of the cream cheese. Pinch the edges together sealing in the cream cheese and roll into a ball. Roll in the cinnamon sugar coating and place on the prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart.

7.    Repeat until the dough is gone and flatten the cookie dough balls with a heavy bottomed glass or measuring cup.

8.   Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes or until the tops start to crack. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and transfer to a wire rack. Enjoy!

Recipe Source: Bakeaholic Mama

Pumpkin Apple Butter

This Butter tastes amazing on anything!  

Toast.Biscuits.Oatmeal.Pancakes.Waffles.Ice-cream. 

You get the idea!

 So easy to make and a very "Fall" gift idea for neighbors and friends.  They will be impressed… and they should be!

 Ingredients

·       2 apples, peeled and steamed

·       1/4 cup pumpkin pie filling

·       1/2 cup granulated sugar

·       2 tbsp. maple syrup

·       1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

·       1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice

Make it

1. Core, peel, and dice your

apples.
2. Steam them for 8-10 minutes or until soft. 
3. Add all of the ingredients to a blender and carefully pulse until desired consistency. 

4. Store in the refrigerator and use within 10-14 days.

Notes… If your butter is too thin, add a small (1/2 - 1 tsp.) amount of corn starch to thicken.

Recipe source… Sweet Bella Roos

Scary Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of my favorite fall treats are pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. This is my shortcut recipe and they taste just as good as if you'd spent all day in the kitchen baking from scratch! Gotta love that, right?

·       15 oz. can of Pumpkin Puree

·       1 Spice Cake Mix

·       1 bag (2 cups) Chocolate Chips

{You could also mix in nuts, raisins, etc.

in place of or in addition to the chocolate chips}

Yep. That's it. No oil, no eggs. All you need are a cake mix, pumpkin and, of course, chocolate chips… Plus they are low fat!! So now you can eat a few extra without feeling guilty.

1.    Mix the cake mix and can of pumpkin together.

2.   Add in chocolate chips.

3. Drop cookies by spoonful onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.     {Unlike most cookies that spread when baked, these cookies will keep their shape.}

4.   Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes.

Cookies can easily be frozen. Store them in a sealed container. You could also top with a cream cheese frosting. The possibilities are endless!