Pumpkin Banana Nut Bread

Here in the U.S., it's Thanksgiving Week! Which means lots and lots of shopping.

For food, of course! Making Jenn a very hungry girl for her favorite fall flavors. So today I decided to cook up a recipe I came across on Pinterest. But like always, I was out of many ingredients--some I expected and some I did not--and I tend to improvise to my own tastes anyway.

Below, you'll find my version of the recipe. (Hint: it turned out fantastic!)

Pumpkin Banana Nut Bread

Based on this recipe from Vegan Yack Attack

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cup Pumpkin Puree
•    3/4 cup mashed Banana (about 2 small bananas worth)
•    3/4 cup Sugar
• 2 tablespoons Ground Flax Seed
• 6 tablespoons warm Water
• 3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• 1 tablespoon (Blackstrap) Molasses 
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 1/2 cup White Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
   
• 1/4 cup Quick Oats
• About 2 tablespoons (20g) chopped Walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
    
2. Begin by adding the ground flax seed to the warm water. Mix and let sit. (This will act as your egg substitute. Or so I'm told.)
    
3. In a large bowl, combine your wet ingredients: pumpkin puree, banana, sugar, oil, molasses and vanilla. Add in your goopy flax seed concoction and mix thoroughly.
    
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. If you're like me, you'll realize at this point that you only have 3/4 cup worth of wheat flour left and have to fulfill the remaining 3/4 cup of flour with white. No biggie. Carry on!
    
5. Add the dry mixture to the wet. Stir until you have a nice chunky, even brownish/orangish bowl of deliciousness. I highly endorse licking the bowl clean after this next step.
    
6. Divide the batter between two loaf pans. Personally, I could only find one... So I used two small oval cake pans instead.
    
7. In a small bowl, combine the oats and walnuts. Divide into two and sprinkle over the batter.
    
8. Bake for about 50 minutes.
    
9. Remove pans from oven and cool on rack. Once the pans are cool to touch, remove the bread. Enjoy!

You won't end up with a traditional loaf using this recipe; it will be on the flatter side. But it's healthy! Per 16 servings (at about 58g per serving) the nutrition facts are as follows:

PER SERVING: 140 Calories; Total Fat: 4.2g (Saturated: .5g, Polyunsaturated: 2.3g, Monounsaturated: .7g, Trans: 0); Cholesterol: 0mg; Sodium: 117.6mg; Potassium: 131.4mg; Total Carbs: 24.6g (Dietary Fiber: 3.4g, Sugars: 12.4g); Protein: 2.6g.

Vitamin A: 65.8%  Vitamin C: 2.1%  Calcium: 2.3%  Iron: 6.5%

I'm thinking this pretty little thing is good enough to gift!

Disgusting. Delicious. Finger Cookies!

Always a Halloween party favorite, finger cookies are gruesome fun, easy to make--and they taste great too! I've seen both sweet and savory versions of the "finger," but the recipe I use I found in Rachael Ray's October 2011 issue. Unbelievably simple considering how great they turn out.

Severed Finger Cookies

Makes: 50  Prep: 40 min (plus chilling) Bake: 25 min

1 c.  unsalted butter, at room temperature (I use whatever butter I have in the fridge + nuke to soften)

1 c.  confectioners' sugar

1 egg

1 tsp.  pure vanilla extract

2 3/4 c.  flour

1 tsp.  baking powder

1 tsp.  salt

1/2 c.  sliced almonds

1. In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Mix in the sugar, egg and vanilla, then mix in the flour, baking powder and salt. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
   
                      
   
2. Preheat oven to 325 F. Using your hands and working quickly, roll a heaping tablespoon of dough into a finger shape. Place the fingers about 3 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Stick a sliced almond on 1 end of each for the fingernails. Use a table knife to make three crosswise knuckle marks in the middle of each cookie. Bake until lightly golden 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.
   
                      
   
3. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, cook the jam over low heat until it reaches a saucy consistency. Once liquified, remove from the heat and pour into a small bowl; dip the "severed" end of each cookie into the sauce.

Somehow, I completely forgot to take a photo of the finished project... But here's what last year's batch looked like:

(This year's fingers were better...)

Candy Corn Cupcakes

Candy Corn Cupcakes

I first saw the idea for a candy corn cake on Pinterest, and while it was a cute idea, I wasn't immediately compelled to replicate it. However, I thought I could adapt the idea to create a great easy way to make cupcakes for my Halloween party. They wouldn't be labor-intensive, but would have a nice finished look. The outcome wasn't perfect, but it didn't disappoint either! 

Here's how I made them: