More Good Stuff

My baking/cooking spree continues. Here are more tasty recipes to add to your collection:

Pumpkin Spice Scones
From PinchMySalt.com

• 1 C. all purpose flour
• 1 C. cake flour
• 1 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 t. ground allspice
• 1/4 t. ground ginger
• 6 T. unsalted butter
• 1/2 C. raisins - (optional)
• 1/3 C. pumpkin puree
• 1/3 C. heavy cream
• 6 T. brown sugar
• 1 t. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Get out a baking sheet and line with parchment paper (not required but makes cleanup easy!). Cut the butter into small pieces, put it in a small bowl and put it back in the refrigerator. In a medium bowl, combine both flours, baking powder, salt, and all spices. Whisk together well. Place bowl in freezer (refrigerator is fine if you have no room in freezer).
2. In a separate bowl, combine pumpkin, heavy cream, brown sugar, and vanilla. Whisk together well. Put this bowl in freezer (or refrigerator) and take the other bowl back out. Get the butter pieces out of the fridge and dump them into the bowl with the flour mixture. Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry blender or rub it in with your fingertips until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the raisins if you are using them.
3. Get the liquid mixture out of the freezer and pour into the flour mixture all at once. Stir with a wooden spoon until everything is just moistened. The dough will be very crumbly, this is the way it should be. Turn the mixture out onto the counter and push the pile together with your hands. It should stick together fairly well. Knead it just a couple of times until everything is together. Don’t knead it too much or the dough will get too sticky.
4. Pat the dough out into a rough circle, 3/4 to 1 inch thick. Cut it like a pie into 8 pieces. Place pieces on the baking sheet so that they are not touching. Bake scones for about 15 minutes at 425 degrees. They should be light brown on the bottom, the tops will darken as they cool.
5. Ice with Ginger Molasses Icing or Cinnamon Icing

Ginger Molasses Icing

• 1 C. powdered sugar
• 1 T. molasses
• 1-2 T. milk
• 1/4 - 1/2 t. ground ginger - (to taste)

1. Stir together molasses, milk, and ground ginger (to taste). Adjust the amount of sugar or milk to make the icing the consistency you want. It should be pretty thick

Cinnamon Icing

• 1 C. powdered sugar
• 2 T. milk
• 1/4 - 1/2 t. cinnamon - (to taste)

1. Mix together powdered sugar, milk, cinnamon (to taste). adjust amounts to change consistency. Icing can be brushed on or drizzled.

Angela's Notes on Pumpkin Spice Scones: I used 1/2 & 1/2 instead of heavy cream. The dough was stickier than I expected - not sure if the 1/2 & 1/2 was the reason. They also came out more moist than I expected, but I prefer my scones a bit more moist. I tried a few with the Ginger Molasses Icing and the Cinnamon Icing. I preferred the Ginger Molasses, but Les preferred the Cinnamon. YUM!

Penne in Creamy Basil-Walnut Sauce
From Cooking Light, MAY 2004
Yield: 6 servings

• 2 (1/2-ounce) slices white bread
• 1/2 cup fat-free milk
• 2 cups loosely packed basil leaves
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh pecorino Romano cheese
• 1 tablespoon extravirgin olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 garlic clove - peeled
• 1 pound uncooked penne rigate pasta
• Chopped parsley - (optional)

1. Trim crusts from bread. Place bread in a shallow dish; pour milk over bread. Let stand 5 minutes. Place bread mixture in a food processor; add basil and next 6 ingredients (basil through garlic). Set aside without processing.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain in a colander over a bowl, reserving 3 tablespoons cooking liquid. Place pasta in a large bowl. Add reserved cooking liquid to basil mixture in food processor, and process until smooth. Add the pesto to pasta; toss well to coat. Sprinkle with parsley, if desired. Serve immediately.

Angela's Notes on Penne in Creamy Basil-Walnut Sauce: I wasn't expecting much from this recipe but was pleasantly surprised! The sauce is very similar to pesto, but not nearly as unhealthy. I did, however, need to add additional Romano cheese...but who wouldn't put a bit more cheese on pesto pasta? Not that it matters, but I also used Farfalle instead of Penne.

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake
From Cooking Light, DECEMBER 2005
Yield: 8 servings

• Cooking spray
• 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs - (about 4 cookie sheets)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 (8-ounce) block fat-free cream cheese
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 2 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping - thawed
• Cinnamon - (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325°.
2. Coat an 8-inch springform pan with cooking spray, and sprinkle pan evenly with crumbs.
3. Combine sugars and cream cheeses in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Add pumpkin and next 9 ingredients (through eggs), and beat well.
4. Pour cheese mixture into prepared pan. Bake at 325° for 35 minutes or until center is just set. Turn oven off, and partially open oven door. Cool cheesecake in oven 1 hour.
5. Remove cheesecake from oven, and cover. Chill at least 8 hours or overnight. Serve with whipped topping, and sprinkle topping with cinnamon, if desired.

Angela's Notes on Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake: Delicious!

Lots of good stuff today. Had to give some of it away, too much for us to eat by ourselves! Lucky friends... :-)

A small disclaimer: I did not author the recipes or take the pictures in this post. My source for each is listed.