Yields two 9″x3″ loaves. (can very easily be halved.)

Ingredients:

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Prepare two 9″ x 3″ loaf pans.
2. Whisk together flours, spices, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. Beat together sugar and oil until well blended.
4. Add eggs, vanilla, and chai (or water — the chai is just a way to squeeze in more flavor).
5. Beat until mixture is even and smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl and the beater as necessary.
6. Add flour mixture all at once. Stir gently until just mixed.
7. Fold in pumpkin puree until uniform.
8. Stir in nuts or seeds, and cranberries, if you like.
9. Divide batter between the loaf pans and bake, about one hour, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf emerges clean.
10. Cool on a wire rack about ten minutes, then remove bread from the pans and cool completely before slicing or wrapping.

Procedure:

If you’ve made any of my other scones, the procedure is the same here. You’ll need much less buttermilk, however, since the pumpkin puree adds quite a bit of moisture.

1. Preheat oven to 375º standard/350º convection.
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine dry ingredients: flour, sugar, spices, salt, and baking powder.
3. Add butter cubes and mix with paddle attachment until the butter is reduced to roughly pea-sized pieces.
4. Stir in pumpkin puree and mix to distribute evenly.
5. With the mixer turned on to the lowest setting, slowly add buttermilk. You will need more or less depending on the moisture content of your pumpkin puree.
6. Stop pouring when the dough begins to stick together. It should be crumbly, but not dry. When you press it together between your fingers, it will feel almost satiny, though not slick or wet.
7. Turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured cutting board. Pat it out into a circle, approximately nine inches in diameter and maybe an inch and a half thick.
8. Brush top and sides with egg wash, and sprinkle the demera sugar over the top.
9. Cut into wedges – eight or twelve according to your preference.
10. Use your knife to transfer the scones to your baking sheet. The dough may try to stick to the cutting board; do not be alarmed.
11. Bake until scones are golden brown at the tips and edges.
12. Cool slightly before removing them from the baking sheet.

There were no jack-o-lanterns at my house this year, but making pumpkin puree and winning the carving contest are not mutually exclusive activities. Bear in mind, however, that the jack-o-lantern-type squashes make less-delicious puree than do the eating-type pumpkins. This year, I grew New England Sugar Pies for this very purpose.

If you do carve your pumpkins before you bake them, just wait to open them up until Halloween Day, thus depriving them the opportunity to mold while hanging out and looking ghoulish (or goofy) on your stoop. To prepare your pumpkin for baking, split it in half and remove the guts and seeds. Place halves cut-side down in a rimmed baking dish and pour about ½ inch of water into the pan. Cover the lot with aluminum foil and place it into a 325º-oven. Bake pumpkins until the flesh is tender; this will take more or less time depending on the size of your squashes. Check after twenty minutes. When the pumpkins are “fork tender,” remove the pan from the oven and the pumpkins from the pan. Allow them to cool until you can handle them comfortably.

Scrape flesh from rind and retire the rind to your compost bin, stock pot, or chicken feeder (along with the guts). Run the flesh through a food mill or puree in an electric food processor. Finally — and quite importantly — drain excess water out of the puree. This can be accomplished in a number of ways depending on the equipment available to you: cheesecloth, chinois, a pan over medium heat. I put my puree in a very fine mesh jelly bag, placed the bag in a large colander set over a larger bowl, and returned throughout the afternoon to give it a good squeeze. I was surprised — nay, downright amazed — by how much water came out of the puree.

I’m sorry to report that I failed both in taking pictures of my Sugar Pies and and weighing them before I turned them into usable puree. All I can tell you is that two medium-sized homegrown pie pumpkins yielded three cups of puree and two days’ worth of snackable roasted seeds. The seeds, if you don’t already know, should be rinsed of any clingy pumpkin innards, patted dry, sprinkled with salt, and toasted in the oven until they are lightly browned. I hear that some people use oils and spices also, but I think plain and simple is fine.

If you haven’t settled on how you will use your fresh pumpkin puree, you may hold it in the refrigerator for about a week, or stash it in the freezer for longer-term storage.

Stay tuned for more pumpkin-centric recipes. Meanwhile, check out my pumpkin cranberry muffins — they’ll rock your world.

NEW! Pumpkin Scones!!

These muffins require no sales pitch. I will tell you anyway that they are fluffy, flavorful, and easy to make with or without an electric mixer.

Ingredients:

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350º standard / 325º convection.
2. Prepare standard-sized muffin tin with grease or papers.
3. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Whisk to evenly mix. Set aside.
4. Cream butter and sugar until well incorporated. You do not need to mix until fluffy and light. With muffins, it’s OK (maybe even preferable) to leave the mixture a bit uneven.
5. Beat in eggs and milk. Again, don’t mix as much as you would if you were making cookies.
6. Add flour mixture and, using a rubber spatula, fold gently into wet mixture. Leave some dry spots in the batter.
7. Add pumpkin and continue to fold until the batter is mostly even.
8. Add cranberries and give the batter one or two more folds.
9. Using a measuring cup, large spoon, or portion scoop, fill muffin cups about ¾ full.
10. Bake until set: a toothpick or skewer inserted in the center of the muffin will emerge clean. This morning, my batch took 35 minutes to bake.
11. Remove pan from oven and allow to cool a few moments before removing muffins.