Halloween is over and we are finished with jack-o’-lanterns, but we at the Exchange are just now entering the real pumpkin zone with pumpkin nut muffins and pumpkin butter.

Betty Barstad of Westby requested the pumpkin nut muffin recipe used by the bakers at Franciscan Skemp Medical Center. We have received a nice variety of recipes and I feel confident that Betty will be tempted enough by some of them to give them a try. Joan Anderson shared a recipe without nuts that she found in Cooking Light magazine. Karen Vick of La Crosse weighs in once again, this time with maple pumpkin muffins, complete with nuts and a cream cheese-maple syrup streusel. Alice Svec of La Crosse suggests mashed sweet potatoes could be substituted for pumpkin. Pat Hunter of
La Crosse’s recipe calls for buttermilk rather than fat-free or evaporated milk; and the recipe from an anonymous friend in Sparta uses molasses and roasted pumpkin seeds.

Julie from Minnesota responded to an anonymous request for pumpkin butter. She sent a slight variation of the request, incorporating apple into the mix. The recipe is from the Very Best Baking Web site, which is the parent company for Libby’s foods. Kathy Wood of the town of Cutler got her recipe from Cooks.com and has “made and canned it several times.” Pumpkin muffins or pumpkin butter, I could practically smell these goodies baking or simmering as I typed them.

Next week we should be able to end Bob Kious of Lansing, Iowa’s, quest for a New Villa fried fish recipe.

We’ve had no luck locating People’s Food Co-op-type pasta salads for Susan Larkin, so I’m afraid we’ll have to retire that request. If someone should happen to find similar recipes and share them, however, I will run them.

We’ll give Bonnie Meinzer’s Grand Marnier cake recipe request a little more time. She purchased the liqueur only to discover that her “excellent” recipe had disappeared.

An anonymous friend is still waiting for the recipe for the roast beef dressing served by St. Peter’s Church in Hokah, Minn., at its October roast beef dinner. Anonymous friends abound lately, and another one, from Sparta, has challenged us with a couple of interesting requests. She is looking for a “steamed cake made in a bamboo steamer.” She saw it on Food TV and remembers it as a yellow sponge-type cake. The cake was pricked with a fork and thick (hot?) sauce was poured over — it might have been orange juice concentrate with ginger. Her second challenge for us is for an old German cake (similar to cheesecake) made with dry cottage cheese. It looks like we have our work cut out for us!

Send requests and recipes to Alice P. Clark at Reader Exchange, c/o La Crosse Tribune, 401 N. Third St.,

La Crosse, WI 54601; e-mail exchange@lacrossetribune.com or send a fax to (608) 782-9723.

Pumpkin Muffins

2 3/4 cups flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup canned pumpkin

3/4 cup fat free sour cream

1/3 cup fat free milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 large egg white

Cooking spray

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons brown sugar

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in medium bowl; stir with a whisk. Make a well in center of dry ingredients. Combine pumpkin, sour cream, milk, vegetable oil, vanilla, egg and egg white in a medium bowl; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Spoon batter into 18 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Combine remaining sugar and brown sugar; sprinkle over muffins. Bake 25 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in the center. Remove muffins to a wire rack immediately.

(Shared by Joan Anderson)

Maple Pumpkin Muffins

2 cups flour

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar, divided

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin

3/4 cup evaporated milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 tablespoons maple syrup, divided

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

Topping:

1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

2 teaspoons brown sugar

Heat oven to 400 degrees. In large bowl combine flour, 3/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Whisk together eggs, pumpkin, milk, oil and 1 tablespoon syrup; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in nuts. In small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with remaining brown sugar and syrup, until smooth. Gently swirl cream cheese mixture into batter. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle over batter. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes; remove to wire rack. 1 dozen muffins.

(Shared by Karen Vick, La Crosse)

Jumbo Pumpkin Pecan Muffins

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Topping:

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine first 7 (dry) ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk next 5 ingredients. Stir egg mixture into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in 1/2 cup chopped pecans. Fill muffin cups three-fourths full. Cut pecans and flour into butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over muffin batter. Bake 25 to 30 minutes.

(Taste of Home recipe; shared by Pat Hunter, La Crosse)

Pumpkin Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

Pinch nutmeg

2 eggs

1/4 cup molasses

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1/2 cup chopped roasted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds

Heat oven to 400 degrees; grease muffin tins or line with paper liners. In large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, molasses (could substitute corn syrup or honey), brown sugar, oil, pumpkin and roasted seeds. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. Stir in seeds. Spoon into muffin cups and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until tester comes out clean. Makes 10 to 12 muffins.

(From “The Totally Muffins Cookbook” by Stegel and Gillingham)

Pumpkin Butter

8 cups pumpkin puree

1 cup apple juice

1 cup cider vinegar

1 cup sugar

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground cloves

Make sure pumpkin is very well pureed; if not, press through a colander, food mill or strainer. Combine pumpkin with remaining ingredients and cook over low heat until mixture is very thick, about 15 minutes. Sterilize canning jars; pour hot pumpkin butter into hot half-pint jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Wipe jar rims and adjust lids. Process 5 minutes in a boiling water bath. Makes 5 to 6 half-pint jars.

(Shared by Kathy Wood, town of Cutler)

Pumpkin-Apple Butter

1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin — not pumpkin pie mix

1 medium apple, peeled and grated

1 cup apple juice

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Combine pumpkin, apple, apple juice, brown sugar and pie spice in medium, heavy-duty saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 1/2 hours. Serve with buttermilk biscuits, breads, corn muffins or hot cereal. Store in airtight container for up to 2 months. 3 cups.

(Shared by Julie from Minnesota)

Advertisement