Thursday, October 17, 2013

Who has fall fever? I do!


Who has Fall Fever?  I do!

I took the summer off from the blog and intended to return as soon as school started!  Yea right....if you are a teacher then you understand how crazy the first of the year is.  There was just no time to fit it in.

Fall arrived and I started once again to get Pumpkin Fever.  I have that quite often...it just intensifies during the cooler weather.  I found two recipes on Pinterest that I wanted to try.  I tweaked them a little to intensify the pumpkin flavor and they both turned out great!

There was a slight problem though.  The one you will find below is a quick pumpkin cake that you cook in a coffee cup - in the microwave - and it's done in only 5 minutes!  That's my problem....this could be an every night thing it's so easy.  It was really delicious and SO worth 5 minutes of my life.  

Ingredients

2 T coconut flour (add this LAST)
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp maple syrup or honey (I used honey)
pinch of salt
1/4 C coconut milk (I used canned and forgot to put it in the picture!)
1 egg
1/3 C pureed pumpkin (I used canned)
coconut oil
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves


1. Grab a coffee cup!  I used a fairly large one just so I would have enough room to stir everything together.  Rub the inside down with coconut oil so your cake will slide out when it is finished.

2. Put all ingredients in the cup.  I recommend putting the coconut flour in LAST.  It absorbs liquid very quickly!  The first time I made it I really thought I had stirred everything together until I dumped it out and saw this mound of coconut flour on the top.  I broke it off and ate the rest :) I ain't scared!

3. Mix the ingredients well and place the coffee mug in the microwave for 5 minutes.  I placed mine on a plate just in case it cooked over and made a mess. (it didn't)  The picture below shows what it looked like when I took it out.


4. Tip your cup upside down on a plate and your cake should slide right out.


Pumpkin Almond Butter Brownies

Pumpkin Almond Butter Brownies


Four of my favorite words put together!  Pumpkin....almond...butter.....brownies.  Yep - that about sums it up.  These were super easy and so good warm.  The first night I had one for my dessert.  The next morning I had one for breakfast.  Okay I had two.  But hey, the are Paleo and technically it could qualify for some type of breakfast break or even a coffee cake (without the topping).  That's how my mind works. UGH!

Give these a try. You won't be sorry.  They are even better with warm maple syrup or warm honey drizzled on top.

On a side note - I'm wondering if I could substitute other ingredients for the pumpkin to make a variation of this recipe?  Like applesauce instead of pumpkin?  Or mashed bananas?  Hmmmm???

Ingredients

1 cup almond butter
3/4 cup mashed pumpkin (I used canned)
1 egg (I forgot the egg in the picture!)
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.


2. Pour into a greased 8 x 8 pan.


3. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or a toothpick in the middle comes out clean.  Ovens vary so I would check it after around 35 minutes.


These made the whole house smell great!  They are really close to my 'real' pumpkin bread recipe with all of the sugar and flour.  Enjoy warm with drizzled honey or 100% maple syrup.  YUMMY!!