Pumpkin Spice Syrup

I love, love, love Pumpkin Spice Lattes. The price? Not so much. I used to buy the Pumpkin Spice creamer at the store which is an adequate substitute. However have you ever actually read the ingredients on a bottle of that stuff? Really, truly, absolutely it is not the greatest stuff to be drinking. Determined to still enjoy my pumpkin coffee at home, I decided to make my own syrup. I started playing around with different recipes that I found for the syrup online and found none of them exactly what I was after. Some were too sweet and some not flavored enough. Others didn't have a complex enough flavor profile to really hit the spot. Here is my current version of yummy pumpkin spice syrup.

Pumpkin Spice Syrup

1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 cup pumpkin puree { fresh is best }
1 cup water
2 generous teaspoons ground cinnamon { or one cinnamon stick }
1/4 scant teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 scant teaspoon ground cloves { or 1/2 teaspoon whole cloves }
1/8 scant teaspoon ground ginger

Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan.
Bring up to just under a boil over medium heat stirring constantly.
Drop temperature to low and simmer for about 5 minutes while still stirring constantly.
While it is still hot, very carefully pour it through a strainer into a heat proof container.
Add to your coffee, tea, or cocoa. Or whatever you want to add it to.
This makes a little over 1 cup of syrup. 

The liquid will be very thick and viscous. I found that if you strain out all of the thickness and keep just the syrupy liquid there is very little flavor left. But if you don't strain it at least once then the syrup is just gritty and nasty. Straining it twice makes the syrup less thick if you want a thinner consistency but the pumpkin flavor is not a strong. I tried using cinnamon sticks and whole cloves but for some reason the syrup just didn't get as flavored as I wanted, but if you don't want it to be as spice infused you can use those. It will help keep it from being as thick. I’ve used more pumpkin but it doesn’t really add anymore pumpkin flavor in the end, it just makes it thicker. You can also double the batch if you want but I found that the fresher the syrup, the better the flavor. And the added bonus is how amazing the house smells while cooking it so I have no problem making a couple batches a week.

Homemade Pumpkin Puree

In case you didn’t know, it’s pumpkin season! I seriously love pumpkin everything more than I can express into words. I make pumpkin yumminess year round because I love it so much. It used to be that I could easily pick up a can of pumpkin at the store for a buck and I never thought twice about the price. However, the price of a 15 oz can of pumpkin has gone up so much that I don’t like buying it.

Enter the pumpkin. It's that beautiful orange squash that magically appears in the can. Last year, I tried my hand at making my own pumpkin puree and seriously rethought the idea. The effort to cook on the stove and the effort to roast in the oven seriously made me think that the extra cost of a can that can easily be opened. But I am not one to give up. I mean really, I work hard for my money and really don’t want to buy anything I can easily make myself. So I started to search for new ideas on how to easily cook pumpkin to puree and found a few recipes that said to use the slow cooker (aka Crockpot). I thought, well sure I can try that.

I bought a decent sized sugar pumpkin for $1.99 and decided it was worth the try. I priced cans of pumpkin and found that a 15oz can (just under 2 cups) can be found for anywhere from $2 to $3. So I figured if I got 2 cups of pumpkin puree from this pumpkin I would break even. If I got more than that, it would be so much more economical.

Sugar Pumpkin

I brought the beautiful little pumpkin home and sat it on my counter as a cute decoration for a few days and then decided it was time for it to meet its destiny. I stabbed the pumpkin with the point of a knife twice and put it sideways in my slow cooker. I turned it on to “High” and walked away. Four hours later, I went to check on it and it was totally cooked perfectly.

I grabbed my chef’s knife and cut the stem off then cut it in half. The seeds came out so easily the spoon was just guiding them into the bowl. No messy fight with the guts, no slimy hands, just a quick swipe of the spoon. Awesome! The skin separated itself from the flesh for the most part and scraping the scrumptious pumpkin into a bowl was so easy. I put all the deliciousness into the bowl of my food processor with the processing blade and pureed it in a matter of seconds. That little pumpkin gave me about 3 ½ cups of luscious pumpkin puree. This month I am going to buy a ton more pumpkins and make more puree to freeze for later.

What you need: 

1 sugar pumpkin
1 6 quart slow cooker (a 3 quart will probably work too)
1 Chef’s Knife or other good knife for cutting larger items
1 bowl for the puree
1 bowl or bag for the guts, skin and stem
1 food processor
1 container to store the deliciousness in when you are done
1000 recipes to use the yummy goodness in.

What to do: 

~ Stab pumpkin twice for steam release.
~ Place pumpkin in the slow cooker so lid will close.
~ Turn on high and walk away for 4 hours.
~ Pull out pumpkin and let sit for a few minutes so you can handle it.
~ Don’t forget to turn off the slow cooker.
~ Cut off the stem of pumpkin then cut the pumpkin in half.
~ Scoop out the guts to throw away or put in the compost or save the seeds to roast or even plant more pumpkins next year.
 ~Remove the pumpkin goodness from the skin and then place into the food processor.
~ Blitz it until smooth.
~ Store in fridge or freeze in portions until ready to use.
~ Cook up yummy treats to your heart’s content.

Pumpkin Pancakes

My son loves pancakes. He would eat them every day if I allowed. However, he is not a fan of produce. So... I put the produce in the pancakes. (genius I know) I have put everything from apples to zucchini in my pancakes. I thought I would share his favorite pancake of all, pumpkin pancakes.

Pumpkin Pancakes

4 1/2 cups flour*
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 TBS baking powder
1 TBS cinnamon
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
3 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
2 TBS melted butter
2 TBS lemon juice
1 1/2 cup canned pumpkin

Combine all of the dry ingredients together.
Dump in all of the wet ingredients on top of the dry ingredients.
Stir until just moistened.
You will see lumps, this is okay just drop the spoon/whisk and walk away.
Resist the urge to stir the lumps out. If you stir too much you will have tough flat pancakes not fit for the dog. You want light and fluffy pancakes fit for your family and friends.
On a barely buttered hot griddle pour 1/3 cups full of batter.
Cook until the edges are set and you see bubbles on the top of your pancakes then flip.
If the batter is too thin, add some flour a little at a time. If the batter is too thick add a little milk. This makes about 16 decent sized pancakes.

*Use any flour you think will taste good here. It can be all-purpose, whole wheat, graham or any combination. The more whole wheat you use, the more milk you may need.

Enjoy!