Recipe: Pumpkin cookies

These indulgent cookies melt in your mouth and give you a taste of the festive fall season

Method

•  Preheat oven to 176^o C.

•  Mix the coconut oil, vanilla essence, apple sauce, maple syrup and pumpkin together in a large bowl. Blend the ingredients using an electric blender.

•  In a medium size bowl, sift together some spice, baking powder, baking soda, and almond meal and oat flour. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and stir.

•  Fold in the mint chocolate chips and pecans.

•  Once the mixture has combined, place one tablespoon of the batter onto a large baking pan lined with parchment paper and keep going until all of the batter is used up.

•  Bake the batter for 20 minutes to 25 minutes or until cooked through. Serve warm.

Note: You can store uneaten cookies at room temperature in a sealed glass container. They will last for two days at room temperature and five days in the refridgerator.

What to do with leftover pumpkin puree

There are many recipes that require one whole can of puree. At other times, you end up with some leftover. Finding a decent recipe to utilise leftover pumpkin puree can be especially challenging since the fruit isn’t all too popular in Pakistan. But to make matters easier for you, we have shortlisted eight ideas that will use up the puree in ingenious ways.

Homemade pumpkin latte: This is one of Starbuck’s most sought after winter drinks. We may not have access to it here but it can easily be made at home by adding the puree to the latte mixture.

Pumpkin oatmeal breakfast: What could be a more cozier start to a winter morning than pumpkin porridge? Simply stir in a spoon or two of the puree into a bowl of cooked oatmeal and top it off with maple syrup.

Pancake paradise: If you are not too fond of oatmeal, you can make pumpkin-flavoured pancakes by adding the puree to traditional pancake batter.

Mixed-fruit smoothie: Since you have added pumpkins to your coffee and breakfast bowls already, why not include them in smoothies as well? The additional fruit will not only jazz up the drink but also give it a healthy boost.

Bake some more: Cookies are not the only goodies you can make with this delicious fruit. There are plenty of other cakes, bars and muffins that require pumpkin puree.

Pumpkin dips: Bored of typical hummus and cheese dips? Whip up a pumpkin mix instead. Or better yet, add just one spoonful of puree to hummus.

Fold it into curries: The taste of pumpkins complements the flavours of curry really well. You can add a little bit of the leftover puree to curry or prepare a dish centered around pumpkins exclusively.

Freeze it: If you are still uncertain as to what to do with the leftover puree, just store it for future use. Pour the liquid into a clean ice-cube tray and place it in the freezer. Once the puree has frozen, remove it from the tray and store it in a sturdy plastic bag until it is required again.

SOURCE: CLOSERONLINE.CO.UK

Published in The Express Tribune, Ms T, November 29^th, 2015.