Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

We've already been making quite a few pumpkin recipes at our house, but so far pretty much all of them have been revisiting old favorites. This recipe is an old favorite, too, but not one that's already on the blog! 

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

From Very Best Baking (aka Nestle)

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or big pinches of nutmeg, cloves, giver)

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs, slightly beaten

2 cups sugar

15 oz pumpkin puree

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease or line 24-30 muffin cups.

2. Combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a medium bowl. In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar. Add the pumpkin puree and oil and whisk again. Stir in the flour mixture until moistened. Add in the chocolate chips. 

3. Divide the batter into the muffin cups. Bake them for 20-25 minutes (unless you do mini-muffins, which will take about 15 minutes per pan). They are done when the tops spring back when poked. Cool in pans on wire racks for 5 minutes.

Vegan Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cashews!

It seems silly to call this dish macaroni and cheese, but it actually does taste like it! Brittany said this is her favorite version of my many vegan mac and cheeses. I made it for a late dinner after yoga class at the Union project (it was much needed)!

2 cups butternut squash puree
1/2 apple, roasted until soft
1 small onion, roasted until tender
2 cups cashews, soaked overnight in bowl of water
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
salt and pepper
1 pound pasta

Haluski

I'm going to admit, I had to double check the spelling of this dish before posting it! Well I'm definitely not Polish. The first time I had this was from a Croatian church and it was drowned in butter : ) This is the perfect dish to serve with pierogies (carbs plus carbs!). Nick, Laura, and I rolled these homemade egg noodles out pretty quickly. The recipe is from the food blog, Sugar Aunts.

For the egg noodles:

2 cups flour plus more for kneading

1 tsp sea salt

4 eggs

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp warm water

Whisk the flour and sea salt together. Make a well in the center and pour in the wet ingredients. Mixing with a fork, beat the eggs and start incorporating the flour a bit at a time. Add additional flour as needed until the dough forms a ball and does not stick to the mixing bowl too much. (I added maybe half a cup of flour since the  eggs I used were pretty large)
Cover mixing bowl with damp tea towel and let sit for 10 minutes. On a floured surface, knead the dough until it no longer sticks to the counter.
To roll out the noodles: divide out the dough, roll it out thinly, and then slice into thin strips of pasta (like linguine). Slice again to make shorter egg noodles. We also just formed some noodles by breaking off small pieces of dough and shaping rough noodles with our hands.

For the haluski:
1/2 head cabbage (1 whole head if it's a small cabbage)
1 large yellow onion
2-3 tbsp ghee
homemade noodles!

Simple Apple Crisp

This gluten-free and vegan apple crisp is so perfect for a fall day. With some vanilla ice cream, it's even better! My favorite recipes are the ones that are so simple, they can be made in just a few minutes. I didn't even peel the apples (I used Jonagolds for a sweet taste). The recipe is from The Minimalist Baker!

Apples:
8-10 apples, cored and sliced
splash of lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon

For the topping:
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup almond meal
1/4 cup gluten-free flour mix
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
1/3 cup solid coconut oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toss the cut apples with some lemon juice and cinnamon. Add to baking dish. Mix the topping by combining the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Then add the coconut oil and mix to form a crumbly mixture. Pour over the apples and bake for about 45 minutes. Serve with ice cream or for breakfast with oatmeal!