Pumpin' Pumpkin Bars-gluten free & vegan!

 

 So we're experimenting with pumpkin this month and found these awesome pumpkin brownies. Unlike another recipe we made with beans (that was more like a pumpkin pie), these turned out more cake-like, soft and moist.  YUM YUM! We adapted this recipe slightly from www.ambitiouskitchen.com taking out the refined sugar.  These freeze awesome and are a total crowd pleaser while being healthy!
    The 2 main components in this recipe are oats & pumpkin, both power houses in terms of nutritional value. Pumpkin is packed with Vitamin A, needed for red blood cell creation, bone and teeth development, and immune health.  Oats are very high in maganese.  Maganese is essential for:

• Help your body utilize several key nutrients such as biotin, thiamin, ascorbic acid, and choline
• Keep your bones/teeth strong and healthy
• Help your body synthesize fatty acids and cholesterol
• Maintain normal blood sugar levels
• Promote optimal function of your thyroid gland
• Maintain the health of your nerves
• Protect your cells from free-radical damage

Source: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=77

Ingredients:

• *2 1/2 c oat flour (we take 2 1/2 c organic rolled oats and grind them up for a few seconds in our Vitamix/blender and measure out to make sure to have 2 1/2 c flour)
• 1 cup pumpkin
• 1/4 c honey
• 1/4 cup molasses 
• 1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 2 heaping tsp cinnamon (we love cinnamon)
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 or 1/3 c chocolate chips (vegan) + 2 tbsp for top
  

*use certified gluten free oats if needed

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and spray an 8x8 or 9x9 pan with cooking spray (could make it in a larger pan, but these wouldn't end up as thick, and watch timing if you do so).
2. Make oat flour-by pulsing rolled oats in blender until flour forms
3. Mix wet ingredients together.  Mix dry ingredients (excepts chips) in a separate bowl and gradually add in dry ingredients.
4. Fold in chips and pour into pan
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool and slice.
   
   
   

Nutritional Benefits:

• Pumpkin: high in beta carotene (Vitamin A): great for immune, bone, teeth and eye health, 1 c-840% of daily needs!
• Oats: high in fiber 1/2 c dry=4 g fiber and maganese (1c=68% of daily value) 
• Low in sugar/no refined sugar
• Low in fat
• Anti-inflammatory
• Anti-oxidant

Nutritional Information (based on 16 squares, but you could easily get 20 out of these)

Calories: 121 (in total recipe: 1938)

Fat: 3.3g (in total recipe: 53g)

Carbs: 21.7g (in total recipe: 347g)

Fiber: 1.8g (in total recipe: 28g)

Protein: 1.7g (in total recipe: 27 g)

Pumpkin Pudding-Vegan

Looking for the fastest dessert ever? Here it is! Great for fast week night dessert. Awesome as a smoothie or throw it into the freezer for a vegan ice cream! Yum!

Ingredients:

• 12 oz silken tofu (I used one pack of Nasoya silken tofu).
• 1/4 cup maple syrup (might want a little more, maybe 1 tbsp)
• 1 cup canned pumpkin, unsweetened
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1/2 tbsp flax seeds
• 1/4 tsp salt 

Instructions:

1. Place all ingredients into a blender (we used a Vitamix)
2. Pour into 4 ramekins or pudding cups
3. Place in refrigerator, eat chilled 

Nutritional Benefits:

• Pumpkin: packed with Vitamin A: nutrient that aides in the healing process of bones, teeth, and other tissues
• Anti-inflammatory
• High in Protein: great for healing and rebuilding tissues
• Low in Sugar and no processed sugar (1 tbsp per serving)
• Rich source of Omega 3 fatty acids: excellent for heart health
• Source of Fiber

Nutritional Information:

Calories:147

Fat:5 g

Carbs:22 g

Fiber: 2 g

Protein:6.5 g

Calcium: 20% of daily needs

Vitamin A: 190% of daily needs

Pumpkin Muffins-gluten free

Made with oat flour, these super fast muffins are an awesome side dish to stews, soups, or to pop and go in the morning! Packed with potassium and Vitamin A-how can you go wrong? They're also low in fat and sugar (with no processed sugars).  Kid approved!

Makes: 12        Prep and Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 c oat flour (or other flour)-to make pulse 2 c rolled oat in a blender, measure out 2 c
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger

• 3/4 c pumpkin
• 1/4 c maple syrup
• 3 tbsp molasses
• 1/2 cup milk (we used skim, but could use almond or soy) + 2 tbsp
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/4 c apple sauce

Ad-ins: pecans, fresh cranberries, chopped apple, dried cranberries, and/or chocolate chips (totaling about 3/4 c)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl
3. Mix wet ingredients into a mixer or blender
4. Add in dry ingredients
5. Mix until blended.  Add optional ingredients (we added 3/4 c cranberries-fyi they're tart)
6. Pour into muffin cups and bake about 15-20 minutes until tester comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes and remove from pan.  Serve warm or at room temp.  These will freeze well!
7. Serve with this chicken stew below.
   

Nutritional Benefits:

• Packed with Potassium (2664 mg) & Vitamin A (150% of daily value in entire batch)
• Low in Fat (only 14 g in entire batch)
• Low in Sugar
• High in Antioxidants
• Good Source of Vitamin C (cranberries)
• Gluten Free
• Anti-inflammatory

Nutritional Information in Entire Batch Made With Cranberries:

Calories: 1340 (each muffin=112)

Fat: 29g (2.4g/muffin)

Carbs: 245g (20g/muffin)

Fiber: 18g (1.5/muffin)

Protein: 36g (3g/muffin)

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread (oat flour/gluten free)

All things pumpkin! Yum-we love the delicious, warming tastes of fall!  We've been trying to reduce our flour intake to see if it helps us with inflammation. So far, we feel better.  I've adapted a traditional recipe to reduce the amount of fat and sugar.  We replaced oats with the flour traditionally called for in the recipe.  If you'd like to make your own oat flour, which we did, put 2 c rolled oats into a blender for about 1-2 minutes until they form a flour. You'll have a little left over.

Ingredients:

• 1 c pumpkin puree
• 2 c oat flour (or you could use traditional flour)*use certified gluten free oats if you need
• 1/4 c applesauce (no sugar)
• 1/2-3/4 cup of honey (we used 3/4, but could definitely reduce to 1/2)
• 1/4 c water
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 c cranberries (we buy them now when in season and freeze them for the year)

Instructions:

1. Grind oats in blender if making your own flour and measure out 2 cups
2. Place all ingredients into a mixer 
3. Pour into a greased loaf pan (we used a large pan).  This is enough for 1 large pan (9x5) or 8.5x4 plus a mini loaf pan
   
4. Bake at 350 for about 1 hour 15 min or until tester comes out clean

Nutritional Benefits:

• Good Source of Vitamin A (pumpkin): helps in bone and teeth strength, healing, and blood circulation
• Good Source of Vitamin C (cranberries): cranberries are an awesome source of this healing/disease preventing vitamin
• Anti-inflammatory: oats and above vitamins help to reduce inflammation, aiding in heart & dental health
• Low in fat: no added oils, better for heart health
• Reduced sugar, no refined sugars: helps decrease blood sugar spikes
• High in Fiber and Calcium (oats): oats are high in both of these, as well as taking longer for the body to digest.  This helps to regulate blood sugar spikes.  Oats are also anti-inflammatory