One More Pumpkin Creation

In my little RV refrigerator sat a mason jar with more pureed pumpkin. Another creation waiting to happen.
Some kind of bar cookie with pumpkin was rolling around inside my gypsy mama head just waiting to be birthed into a yummy creation. The gypsy kids are always wanting a treat and I am learning and enjoying eating and cooking more and more seasonally. It is still pumpkin time! So here is what I came up with:

Note: If  you like really sweet stuff this is not super sweet..I suppose you could adjust the amount of sugar but I try to keep the sugar consumption down as much as possible. All ingredients are organic...yes, I know it cost more.

Gypsy Mama Pumpkin Bar Cookies

Crust & Topping
3/4 C. Organic Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/2 C. Organic Rolled Oats
5 T. Organic Butter/break up into pieces...use substitute if vegan
1/4 C. Organic Brown Sugar
1/2 C. shelled pumpkin seeds/pepitas

Filling
1/3 softened Organic Cream Cheese/could use silken tofu or vegan equivalent
1 1/4 C. of pumpkin puree
1/4 C. of Brown Sugar
1 egg/use any binder for vegan
1/4 tsp. fresh ginger root ground
1/4 tsp. of cinnamon, ground cloves, freshly grated nutmeg
You could use 1 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice...to substitute for the above spices
1 T. Molasses
Pinch of Salt

Combine Crust ingredients,

 using your fingers (or a pastry blender or two knives) work the butter into the flour, oats, sugar until it resembles a crumbly mixture. Reserve 1/4 of the mixture for the topping.

Press the crust mixture into an 8x8 square pan.

Combine filling ingredients and pour on top of crust. Sprinkle remaining crumbly crust mixture on top of filling evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.* Let cool completely before cutting the filling will set up upon cooling.

*All of my baking times and temperatures are suspect because I bake in a tiny microwave/convection oven combo in my RV. If you are using any other type oven probably would be a good idea to watch what you are baking carefully and make adjustments based on your oven.

Pumpkin Creations...as promised!

Remember my post the other day about pumpkin? The Gypsy Mama came up with some pretty great cookies and...PUMPKIN CHILI!! Yep, that's right Pumpkin Chili and it was delicious...I'll share the recipes with you!

Here's the recipes: ALL INGREDIENTS are ORGANIC...yes, we know it costs more.

The gypsy kids named these cookies:

Fall Harvest Cookies~These cookies are dense almost like a thick rich biscuit!!

1 1/2 C. whole wheat organic pastry flour
1 1/2 C. organic all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt.
1/4 tsp. cinnamon, ground cloves, freshly grated nutmeg

6 T. organic butter, softened
1/2 C. organic sugar
1/2 C. organic brown sugar
1/2 C. pureed pumpkin
2 T. milk
1 egg
1/2 tsp. fresh ground ginger
1/2 C. chopped pecans
1/4 - 1/2 C. dried cranberries or golden raisins

Sift your dry ingredients (except sugars) together. Cream butter & sugars, then add pumpkin. Add the milk, egg and ginger. Add dry ingredients in thirds and lastly add fruit and nuts. Dough will be stiff.
Bake 375 degrees for 10-14 minutes. (Keep in mind we have a tiny micro/convection oven  in the RV so you may want to adjust time and temperature for your oven)

Didn't take pictures of the chili but trust me it is really, really good.

Gypsy Mama Pumpkin Spice Chili
1/2 green pepper chopped
1 medium onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 stalks of celery chopped
2 cups of pumpkin puree (if you used canned make sure it's not pumpkin pie mix-even though that might be good too)
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp. cumin, cinnamon, chili powder
1 tsp. chipolte chile powder
1 16 oz. can of chili beans
1 16 oz. can of red kidney beans
1 16 oz. can of  mixed beans (black, navy, pintos)
1/2 cup vegetable protein granuales (or bulgar wheat, ground beef, tofu crumbles)
I'm now on the fence about that other stuff that has 3 letters starting with T and ending with P because I've discovered it's copyrighted and trademarked by a huge food conglomerate...the grocery store to the world people and is probably all GMO!!

Put in a slow cooker on low for 6 hrs. or high for 4 hours or cook on your stovetop. Enjoy!!

The Gypsy Mama's family loves to say something nice before every meal...we love this book, "A Grateful Heart" edited by MJ Ryan. Blessing our meals with beautiful words always makes everything taste just a little bit better! Here's a sample from the book:

May all things move and be moved in me

and know and be known in me

May all creation

dance for joy within me.

-Chinook Psalter