Pumpkin Bread

When we went to the Big Bad Wolf last year, we bought lots of books. However, most of them were for Christmas presents. I told myself I'd buy one cookbook for myself. There were plenty of recipe books with beautiful covers. But I end up choosing one with a rather plain cover, because I thought the recipes inside were great and a little different.
Commonsense Baking, that's the name of the book. And this is the first recipe from the book that I've tried.

My last post was on Pumpkin Muffins, which I guess is pretty common. This this pumpkin recipe however, is great and a just a teeny bit uncommon. It's real yeasty BREAD, not the cake loaf type of 'bread'. The end result is a lovely bread loaf with a nice golden colour when you slice it.

When you see something like this out of your oven, it makes all the hard work worthwhile. Also, when you bake your own bread, you get this lovely bready, yeasty aroma filling your whole house. It beats store bought bread anytime. Besides, I haven't such type of bread sold anywhere.

Here's how it looks like after the dough is risen, before baking:

And here it is, straight from the oven:

Finally, here's the recipe I'd like to share. I've simplified it from the original. I can't wait to try more recipes from the book. I guess what they say is right; don't judge a book by its cover!

 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Pumpkins. There are so many things you can do with them. I've used them in pilaf, pancakes, loaf cakes, muffins and yeast bread (which will be in my next post). Pumpkin puree also make a wonderful baby food.

Anyway, here I would like to share a recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins. These are really easy to make. I used steamed fresh pumpkin but you can also use canned pumpkins.



So this is a very short post. Life isn't so great right now. But cooking and baking is always therapeutic. And photography too, if I can get it right.

Here's the recipe.





Pumpkin Pancake

Pumpkin Pancake, Mickey Mouse Style

Sometimes, on easy Sunday mornings, I make pancakes for my family. If I'm in the mood, I'd add a little twist to the flavour and also the presentation. Well, at least I attempt to.

Pumpkin pancake is quite a common feature in my house. I always add oats the the batter to increase fibre and nutritional value.  I thought I'd style it a little differently for a change. Thought it might interest my toddler.

Anyways, here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Pancake
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp rolled oats
about 200g of pumpkin, steamed
1 cup milk
1 egg

1. Mix together the flour, baking powder, oats and sugar.
2. Mash the pumpkin.
3. Beat the egg together with the milk and mashed pumpkin.
4. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture. Beat till smooth.
5. Leave the batter for a few minutes before making the pancakes.

I made one big pancake and two small ones and assembled them to form a cartoon character. And then I painted the face with blackstrap molasses using a spoon.

The results... taa... daa....
Noted, it looks more like Scary Mickey but my daughter didn't complain.

Oh well, Mr. Smudge Eye gets eaten anyway.

Cheers to a healthy home made breakfast, however it may look like!