Harvest Party Muffins

I finally succeeded and made a pumpkin pastry! I'm so excited. Pumpkin is my absolute favorite to cook with and yet I rarely get the chance, so this evening I finally made sure to put aside time and bake. I made Harvest Muffins! I call them this because I have a major desire to throw a harvest party, I mean how splendid and blissful does that sound? To sit outside on a wooden table, decorated with deep warm sunflowers, surrounded by green meadows in the Autumn air... awe, it just sounds too lovely! At least it's a fantasy of mine. Maybe one day I can live up to my fantasy; I suppose we shall see.

 But these muffins were made for my dear friend Jordan up in Oregon, so I hope and pray they'll continue to be fresh and moist by the time they reach her mouth! 

My muffins are inspired by Post Punk Kitchen's  recipe for pumpkin muffins, just a bit revised to a healthier version : )

Harvest Muffins

 Makes 12 muffins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit 

Spray a nonstick spray on muffin pan, or use paper cups.

(I personally cut squares of parchment paper for a fun touch.)

1 3/4 cup Whole Wheat White Flour

1 1/4 Raw Sugar

1 Tbl baking powder

1/4 Sea Salt

1 Tsp Cinnamon

3/4 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

1/8 Tsp Ground Cloves

1/2 Tsp Nutmeg

Sift dry ingredients together in one bowl. 

1 cup Pumpkin ( I used organic canned)

1/2 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

1/2 cup Apple Sauce

2 Tbl Molasses 

 Stir all wet ingredients together in a separate bowl.

 Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together

1/2 cup Fresh Cranberries Chopped

1/2 cup Walnuts Chopped

 Fold in cranberries and walnuts

Fill muffin tins about full, the batter should be mostly used up. 

 Bake for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. 

Enjoy with a good cup of morning joe to start your day!

Pumpkin Seeds

   Yesterday evening my boyfriend, Ben, (I'm sure you'll hear of him in the future) and I decided it was about time we carved our pumpkins! Seeing that we purchased them from Avila Barn over a week ago. I fell in love with a gorgeous deep orange and green pumpkin plus a round plump white one, while he purchased a much larger classic orange fellow. I wish I knew the names for all of these unique squash. Pumpkins are just so gosh darn gorgeous and simply adorable! So I did my best attempt to stencil an owl from one of Martha Stewart's cut-outs. ( I know, Martha... buuut i really liked the owl!) My attempt was a slight failure. The pumpkin had too many notches to make a clear picture and the cut-out paper kept ripping because of my pumpkin slime induced hands.  But Ben's pumpkin turned out well, since he decided to stencil his very own face on it... He's a goober. I know, buuut he's my goober at that.
     I really was planning on making tooons of pumpkin goodies this last month, but school has been completely over loading with homework and when I'm not doing homework I'm working or sleeping. My mom has always told me that school is like a second job sometimes and I hadn't believed her until now... That was my mistake... But tonight I forced in some necessary free time and my parents barbequed some delicious corn for me. I swear i could live off of corn for the rest of my life, as long as it is roasted and topped with some good o'le earth balance, chili powder, paprika, oregano and salt... mmmm i'm in heaven with that! After watching half of the first Futurama movies we decided to get started on some pumpkin seeds! This is what we came up with!

Pumpkin Seeds 

2 cups Pumpkin Seeds 

1 tbl Olive Oil

Cleaned from a fresh pumpkin, and rinsed to separate all the pumpkin glops.

Next pat dry with paper towels and lay out on a cookie sheet to complete dry over night.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit

In a bowl put two cups of pumpkin seeds and add 1tblsp of Olive Oil. Toss together so all are coated.

Next pour sunflower seeds on a baking sheet and divide in half.

Ben's Version

1.5 tbsp raw sugar

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Salt

Sprinkle mixture over half of the pumpkin seeds ( 1 cup worth)

Lauren's Version

1 tsp chili 

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic powder 

1 tbsp raw sugar

1 tsp black sesame seeds for a bit of an edgy look

Sprinkle mixture over second half of the pumpkin seeds ( 1 cup worth)

(all measurements are truly based on personal preference!) 

Get creative with you seedlings, try flavors such as thyme, cocoa and chili powder, basil  and balsamic, or lavender and cardamon. Use that imagination!