Substitute for..... Pumpkin Pie Spice

This isn’t really a substitute but a recipe for pumpkin pie spice when you don’t have it or can’t get it.  I make it so I can make pumpkin breads/cakes. I’ve only made it twice, and both things turned out well. You’ll need this for some other recipes I’ll do, well if you’re in Indonesia anyway. And just so you know, I split the original recipe in half so if you double it you won’t be doubling it, just so you know. I have NO clue where I got this recipe. But, here it is.

        Pumpkin Pie Spice

1½ Tablespoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

¾ teaspoon ground allspice (someone has to send this if you’re in Papua)

¾ teaspoon ground cloves

·         Combine spices in a small bowl. Mix well to combine (duhh).

·         Store in a small jar or better yet, put in an empty spice container. It’s kept for over four months and is still good.

Pumpkin Squares

This recipe is excellent. I brought it to my Bible study, a full 9x13, and I only had SIX small pieces when I got home. Everyone loved them. So I brought the six pieces back home and my family thought they were great too. I sprinkled sifted powdered sugar on top of the pumpkin squares when they were cut. All I did was add one more oz of pumpkin and used fresh pumpkin. Here’s the link to the original, http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pumpkin-squares/. And here’s what I did.

       Pumpkin Squares

4 eggs

1 cup olive oil

2 cups white sugar

2 cups fresh pumpkin puree

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons powder sugar, optional

·         Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

·         In a medium bowl, mix together the eggs, oil, sugar and pumpkin until smooth. Sift together the flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir into the pumpkin mixture.

·         Spread evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. The bars should spring back to the touch when done. 

Pumpkin Scones

I love pumpkin breads, pie, etc. so I was looking for some kind of pumpkin bread recipe to make for a friend. I came across this recipe, and we had all the ingredients so I went and made it (a couple days later, maybe 5?). They turned out really good. Even my dad liked them (he doesn’t really like pumpkin stuff). But it has loads of sugar so who wouldn’t like them? I don’t know. So here it is with my changes.  You can see the original recipe at the link below.

                                                                     
        Pumpkin Scones

  

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup plus 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

6 Tablespoons cold butter cut into 1-inch (or almost 1 inch) cubes

½ cup fresh pumpkin

2 Tablespoons whipping cream

1 Tablespoon milk

1 large egg

        Powdered Sugar Glaze

1 cup plus 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons milk

        Spiced Glaze

1 cup plus 3 Tablespoons powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons milk

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch of ground nutmeg

Pinch of ground ginger

Pinch of ground cloves

·         In a mixing bowl, whisk together pumpkin, whipping cream, milk, and egg. Set aside.

·         Sift together in a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer), the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Add the cubed butter on top.

·         With a knife, cut the butter into the flour (if using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment on medium speed) until you reach the consistency of coarse cornmeal (butter should be no larger than a small pea).

·         Now gradually fold the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture. I used a spatula to do this, but I had to use my hands in the end to get the last bit of flour to incorporate into a well formed dough ball. My dough was pretty ragged, but that’s just fine. The important thing is to make sure all the dry ingredients have been moistened well.

·         On a well-floured surface, flatten and form the dough into a 12”x4”x1” thick rectangle.

·         Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, divide the rectangle into 3 equal pieces, then slice each piece into 4 triangular pieces by making an ‘X’ through them, then cut right down the center of the rectangle in the 12” direction. (http://theshoeboxkitchen.wordpress.com/2010/10/06/pumpkin-scones/)

·         Preheat your oven to 220C (425F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (wax paper works great).

·         You should have 18 triangles. Put the triangles on the pan and bake for maybe 15 minutes or until light brown (mine only took 13 mins, but they were still kinda’ burnt on the bottomL) Remove to a cooling rack or to 2 plates and let cool before icing.

·         Make the powdered sugar glaze by mixing the milk and sugar until smooth, then paint the tops of the glaze using a pastry brush or spread the glaze with a spoon.

·         While the first glaze is drying (10 mins), make the spiced glaze combining all ingredients and mixing till’ smooth. Drizzle onto the scones by putting the spiced glaze into a ziplock and snip off the corner.

The glaze is supposed to dry for an hour, but we waited about 30 mins since it was about 9:00 and we were hungry. These are the BEST scones ever!