Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

Yesterday I was at Starbucks with my friend and she asked for a slice of pumpkin bread. I looked at it and said, “hey I bet I can make pumpkin bread that tastes better and is better for you than that.” My friend was glad to hear this remark because she knew it meant I would try it out and give her some, and since I don’t want to do any homework, that’s exactly what I did!

So here you go, a healthy version of pumpkin bread that doesn’t compromise health for taste.

Recipe:

Getting every last drop
out of the honey.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup unsalted melted butter

¼ cup honey

½ cup plus 2 ½ tablespoons packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 eggs

1 ½ cups pumpkin puree

1 ¾ cup white whole wheat flour

½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¾ cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions:

A clever is perfect to chop up nuts.

Preheat the oven to 325°F and lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Whisk these dry ingredients together and set aside. In another large bowl, combine the melted butter, canola oil, honey, and ½ cup of the brown sugar and beat until well mixed. Add the eggs and lightly beat and finally mix in pumpkin and vanilla. Slowly add in the flour mixture until combined. Stir in the chopped nuts last.

Crumble the brown sugar evenly
over the entire top layer.

Pour the batter into the greased pan, and tap the bottom so that the batter evens out. Take the last 2 ½ tablespoons of brown sugar and sprinkle it over the top of the batter.

Place the pan into the oven for 55 to 65 minutes.

Remove, and let cool before slicing.

If you don’t give the bread enough time to cool, then your slices will have no chance of coming out even.

The brown sugar on top is a perfect crumble, and especially perfect for people who love the texture of the muffin tops (and by that I don’t mean the rolls coming out on top of your pants).

Pumpkin Creme Brulee

My mom has always been known for her extravagant Thanksgiving, and though I realize it has been quite a few months since we've had our share of turkey, I still thought it would be worthwhile to show the crowd pleaser dessert of this year's feast. This recipe not only calls for you to use pumpkin in the batter, but also to place the creme in the pumpkin itself! We had some difficulties finding the right sized pumpkins and you must be careful when you cook the dessert that there are no holes in the pumpkins so that the creme brulee doesn't seep through but in the end the work was completely worth it!

Recipe:

Ingredients

• 4 cups heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 16 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2. Heat the cream and vanilla in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat; bring to a simmer. Whisk together the egg yolks, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger, cloves, and pumpkin in a bowl. Slowly pour 1 cup of the cream mixture into the egg mixture, stirring continually. Then pour the entire egg mixture into the saucepan; whisk briskly for 1 minute. Pour the mixture into ramekins. Arrange ramekins on a baking sheet.

3. Bake in preheated oven until set, about 15 minutes; refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours.

4. Before serving, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of sugar over the top of each creme brulee. Use a kitchen torch or your oven's broiler to caramelize the sugar. It may take 2 to 3 minutes in the broiler. Serve immediately.

These definitely impress.