Tis the season for pumpkin everything! However, before you pick up that can of pumpkin puree, maybe it’s the year to make your own! I know that the canned stuff may seem simpler, but making your own is not hard. Plus you get way more bang for your buck and it tastes WAY better! So how do you do it?

 

Homemade Pumpkin Puree

Ingredients: 1 Pie Pumpkin (That’s it!)

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Stab the pumpkin 7-8 times with a sharp knife all over the surface of the skin. Place the whole pumpkin on a glass dish in the oven and let cook for an hour. Once cooked, cut in half and let cool. Once cooled, remove seeds (reserve for roasting), and scoop flesh into a bowl. Puree using an immersion blender, food processor, or basic blender. Store in a mason jar until ready to use. Pumpkin puree also freezes and thaws well for later use.

 

Amazing Pumpkin Bars

Once you have that delicious homemade pumpkin puree, I always make these delicious pumpkin bars. The thing about this recipe is that it only seems to work with the real homemade stuff; canned pumpkin does not result in nearly the same delicious flavor and texture.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup of coconut flour (available at most health food stores)
• ½ tsp Sea Salt
• 1 tsp Baking soda
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 8 Eggs
• 2 cups Fresh Pureed Pumpkin
• 2/3 cup of Honey (raw) or Maple Syrup (Grade B) -or a combination of the two
• ½ cup Coconut Oil, melted
• 1 cups Chocolate Chips

Directions: Mix together coconut flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Add eggs, pumpkin, honey/maple syrup, and melted coconut oil and mix until well blended (I use my immersion blender for this). Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into a 9x13 greased baking dish. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes until cooked through. Cool, serve, enjoy! This is a crowd favorite but also freezes well and can be made into muffins instead of bars (just lessen cooking time to 15-20 minutes).

*Adapted from this recipe: http://elanaspantry.com/paleo-pumpkin-bars/

 

Author: Joelle Kurczodyna, NTP