A guest post by Amy Spiro
How many times have you carved up that gorgeous pumpkin only
to toss it out a few days later? Well instead of taking a knife to that
beautiful gourd, have fun with the simpler and much more kid-friendly activity
of pumpkin painting. The best part of painting instead of carving your pumpkin,
is that you can still eat it after the holiday season is over.—
Arm your kids with some paintbrushes and non toxic paint and
let them go to town, creating faces, murals and even finger-painting. Display
their proud creations through Halloween.
Once the season is over, gently wash off as much paint as
you can, then simply use a vegetable peeler to remove what’s left. With the
biggest knife you have, cut off the top of the pumpkin, scoop out the seeds and
stringy interior and then slice it up into manageable pieces. Steam it in the
microwave for 20 to 30 minutes until the flesh is soft and pierce-able with a
fork, OR place the pieces face down on a
baking sheet and cook at 450 for 45 minutes to an hour.
When the pumpkin is cooked, scoop out the flesh and blend it
until smooth – I found that an immersion blender worked best for this. Of
course – if all this sounds like madness, canned pumpkin puree works great in
this recipe too! I made these with half whole-wheat flour, and
half-applesauce/butter to up their healthiness level but keep all the wonderful
taste.
Pumpkin Muffins – Makes 24
Ingredients
2 cups
pumpkin puree
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup
apple butter or applesauce
4 large eggs
1 %uFFFD cups all-purpose flour
1 %uFFFD cups
whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Topping:
1 teaspoon
cinnamon
1 tbsp sugar
Directions
Whisk together the pumpkin, oil, apple butter or
apple sauce, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, 2 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a
large bowl until smooth.
Whisk in the flour and baking powder until just
combined – don’t overbeat.
Stir together the cinnamon and remaining tablespoon
of sugar in another bowl.
Divide batter among 24 paper-lined muffin cups
(each should be about three-fourths full), then sprinkle the tops with the
cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Bake at 350 F until about 25 to 30 minutes, until
golden brown.
Cool in the pan for five minutes, then transfer to
a wire rack to cool completely.
For more baking inspiration from Amy, check out her blog at bakingandmistaking.com.
