Baked Pumpkin Mochi Cake

I wanted to try making this because I saw a picture of someone selling pumpkin mochi.  Since I made red bean mochi before, I knew I could easily modified the recipe and made my own version of pumpkin mochi.  So, I set to work and created this beauty.  When it was out of the oven, the top crust was crispy and soft inside.  On the next day, it turned soft and slightly chewy.  I hope you like this recipe and feedback to me!

My easy recipe, with only a whisk and a bowl.  Less steps and less things to wash later.  I couldn't resist and cut one small row to try, before I remember I haven't taken a picture yet!  Heehee!

Pumpkin Chia Seeds Bar Cake

Modified this from the Best Pumpkin Cake recipe I posted few years ago.  Now, I added ground flaxseed and chia seeds for a healthier approach.  I should try it with whole wheat flour next, but I am not sure of the outcome and afraid to give it a try.  I was experimented it with a 9x13" pan instead of the bundt pan because that took a long time to bake.  Luckily this turned out well and it only took 35 minutes to bake.  I freeze half for later and the other half I just store it in an air-tight container and place it at room-temperature on the kitchen countertop.  My girls had this as breakfast and for their afternoon snack.  

Nothing better to bake some pumpkin treats at this pumpkin season.  It's also a great time to stock up on canned pumpkin when it goes on sale, so that we can enjoy it throughout the whole year, not just at the end of the months.  *wink*

Crunchy Pumpkin Spiced Cookies

I finally succeeded in making a better, crispier and crunchy pumpkin cookies than my previous attempt.  Since I don't use canola oil now, I have to find a substitute for it.  I can't use peanut oil because I mostly make this as gift besides our own consumption.  You know, have to be careful about peanut allergy these days.  I don't want to use my extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil because they are expensive.  So, I left with butter, butter is what our grandma used in the old days anyway before cheaper oil replaced it in baking.  Anyway, today we know that butter is a good fat and it would not raise your cholesterol level by eating it in moderation.  So, I am not afraid of butter anymore and have been using it to substitute my older recipes that called for canola oil.  As for my Chinese New Year cookie recipes, I will either use peanut oil or butter as the substitute.

This is so crunchy and delicious!  You just have to make it to believe it!  Now I learned the trick, I have to shape it thin and bake it until it's slightly brown to make it crunchy.  As you can see above, I make it for teachers at school and I hope they like this little crunchy pumpkin spiced cookie!  :-)

If you make this, please do feedback to me ya! 

Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Filling

I always wanted to make a pumpkin roll with cream cheese filling as I couldn't trust the ones sold outside at the supermarkets.  Eating healthier also means most of the things we eat now have to be homemade.  I really do not wish to live like my great grandma used to live in this "modern" days, but because of the GMO and toxic chemicals that they put in the processed food, in order to protect ourselves, I am force to make things from scratch.  I do buy organic cookies or non-GMO verified potato chips but I haven't seen non-GMO verified pumpkin roll yet.  So, I have to make it if I want to eat it right?  Anyway, this pumpkin roll is oil free and butter free!!  Most of the fat comes from the cream cheese filling.

This pumpkin roll is soft and kind of spongy (which is strange as I just hand whisked the ingredients).  The cream cheese filling is just yummilicious and a plus for me is that this pumpkin roll is very easy to make (only a hand whisk, a bowl and a spatula plus measuring spoons and cups), quick to mix the batter and filling, 15 minutes to bake and just a little assemble would do.  Not a lot of things to wash too, so try it if you like easy recipe like me.

Flaxseed Pumpkin Cake

After seeing all the delicious cakes baked by fellow bloggers, it made me realized that I haven't been baking cake in a while.  But I wanted something that was easy and not too troublesome to make, like my one whisk and one bowl cake recipe.  I finally decided on this pumpkin cake recipe because I have some organic pumpkin puree stock up in my pantry.  This time I added ground flaxseed just to make it healthier, no harm in getting an extra omega-3 right?

This cake is best eaten the next day.  The texture doesn't look like the usual pumpkin cake yet it is dense, soft and moist and so good with my morning cup of coffee.  I could taste the flaxseed, pumpkin and spices in the cake. Delicious!

Crispy Pumpkin Cookies

Yeah!  I did it!  I managed to create a crispy pumpkin cookies!!!  Two years ago, I tried my hand on soft pumpkin cookies which I didn't really like as I preferred my cookies to be crisp and tasted like cookies instead of cake.  I told myself that I was going to experiment and come out with a crispy cookie recipe but never really gotten to do it.  So, this year I took on the challenge and happy to announce that I created a delicious crispy pumpkin cookies that we all liked and easy to make.

As you know, my recipe got to be easy to whip up.  And this recipe only required a hand whisk!!  What a plus right for busy mom or for someone who just want to make cookies fast with minimally washing required.  I added the dried cranberries just because I have about 1/2 cup left and I wanted to finish it.  You can omit it or use raisins or chocolate chips, it's up to you!

Your house will smell like pumpkin and spices when you bake these cookies.  My girls totally loved this and said it tasted like pumpkin.  I think the cinnamon and cloves paired really well to bring up the full flavor of this cookie.  Warning:  It is hard to resist, so self-control needed in eating these cookies!

Pumpkin Buns/ Bread

I have two cans of organic pumpkin puree waiting for me to use.  I always store some when it went on sales during Christmas holidays because I simply adore pumpkin cake.  However, since I have to make buns for our breakfast, I figure pumpkin buns would be a nice change from pumpkin cake since it's contained less fat and healthier.

I knew I bookmarked Lily's sandwich bread recipe a while ago but have yet to try it.  So, this was the best time to give it a try.  I actually over baked the buns because I was multitasking.  Nevertheless, the resulted buns were still soft.  A little harder crust on the outside but soft inside.  One can of pumpkin puree can make this twice.

I got the recipe from Lily's Wai Sek Hong:  Sandwich Bread.  Slightly changed it and made it into buns because it was easier for us to eat. 

My second batch of pumpkin buns with added black sesame seeds.

Stir Fried Lo Mein with Pumpkin (南瓜炒捞面)

As you know, I love stir-fried pumpkin!!   I created a recipe last year and still love it to pieces.  Do check out my stir-fried pumpkin with eggs!  This year, I stir-fried the pumpkin with yellow noodle or lo mein.  Can you spot the pieces of pumpkin on my noodle?  It went so well together too.

Again, I had some yellow noodle left, not enough to feed my hubby, so I cooked it for my girls and me for lunch.  Sorry hub, you had to miss out on this yummy.  :P  This was one colorful dish too, I added in all the colors I could think of.

I would love to share my Lo Mein Pumpkin with Presto Pasta Nights created by Ruth and this week host is Simona of Briciole.  Check out her blog on Friday for the full roundup! 

Stir Fried Pumpkin with Dried Anchovies (干尾鱼炒南瓜)

 

I love stir fried pumpkin but I am also not someone who would cook the same dish over and over.  I need variation!  So I thought instead of dried shrimps and eggs, it should go well with dried anchovies and chili and I was not disappointed.  I still keep the fish sauce with this dish though because to me pairing of pumpkin and fish sauce is a winner.  So, don't go substitute the fish sauce with soy sauce, it might ruin the dish.

Pumpkin has many health benefits, it has anti-inflammatory properties, antioxidant, low in calories, high in fiber, high in carotenoid which help protect your vision, improve joint health and protect against lung and prostate cancers.  And don't forget to save your pumpkin seeds and roast it yourself, it's packed with nutrients too.

Tired of pumpkin soup?  Roasted pumpkin?  Give this stir-frying a try!

Steamed Pumpkin Kuih 2 (蒸南瓜糕点)

This makes a delicious breakfast, afternoon snack, dessert, supper or even lunch.  With the abundance of pumpkin this holidays season, why not give this a try?  I used my old recipe here but this time I used fresh pumpkin to make this.  I steamed the cut pumpkin for 30 minutes and then just chopped it into small pieces with my cleaver.  You can squeeze some water out before adding into the rice flour batter for firmer texture.

Since the steamed pumpkin contained more water, the resulted pumpkin kuih is moist and soft unlike the steamed taro kuih even though the methods are the same.  Serve this with crispy fried shallots, chopped scallion and sriracha sauce.

The undress pumpkin kuih

Pumpkin Sweet Potatoes Sago Dessert

What to do with extra pumpkin on hand?  Make this!  This idea was suggested by one of my readers and I couldn't agree with her more, so easy to make and so tasty especially with lots of tapioca pearls or sago pearls.

You have to use fresh pumpkin for this.  Just cut it into small pieces along with the sweet potatoes.  You can either steam to soften and cook it or just boil them together in a pot for 20-30 minutes.  Add Chinese brown sugar pieces to taste, add in cooked tapioca pearls and lastly coconut cream.  Stir to mix well.

Good either serve warm or cold.  My hubby loved it cold with crushed ice.  Keep any leftover in the refrigerator and enjoy it cold straight out of the fridge.  This method of cooking is just like BoBoChaCha actually.  So, of course you can add in yam or tapioca strips or plantain or red bean or whatever you think is suitable.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

 

I wanted to try a pumpkin cheesecake ever since I tried it few years ago.  It was a store bought frozen kind and it was so good, the memory just stick with me.  I actually prefer the duo version where there was part white and part pumpkin cheesecake.  However, it sort of ended out this way.

You can use graham crackers instead of ginger snap cookies if you like.  Omit the nuts if you prefer. 

Look at my crack cheesecake!!!  This was my first cheesecake and it cracked badly.  Note to self, never offer to bring a whole cheesecake for a party or potluck because you never know how it would turn out.  If you have great tips on baking a non-crack cheesecake, feel free to share with this cheesecake amateur here.  :-)

Pumpkin Tang Yuan or Pumpkin Glutinous Rice Balls

Happy Solstice or Dong Zhi “冬至节”everyone!  Today is the first day of winter and in tradition, Chinese eat Tang Yuan and reunion meal on this day.  This year I made a pumpkin tang yuan or pumpkin glutinous rice balls.  I used the leftover dough from making the Chinese Pumpkin Sesame Cakes to make this.  I will show some before and after pictures in the next page.

At first I thought of serving it in a thick sweet syrup but later changed my mind and served this in my Red Bean and Black Glutinous Rice Sweet Soup.  Just have to make it sweeter as the tang yuan is plain. 

Steamed Pumpkin Cake (Pumpkin Kuih)

My one pumpkin can help me create so many new dishes.  If you have been following my blog, I have been popping out all sort of pumpkin recipes recently, have you even noticing it?  And it's not over yet, I still have more pumpkin recipes to share.  Just stay tuned!

I love my stir-fry pumpkin with eggs, so yummy delicious and this steamed pumpkin cake, soft and moist and so well seasoned.  It's so great eating it this way, but I also like it pan-fried because I like the crispy crust on the outside before I bite into the softness inside.

I was so happy I created this recipe.  I never thought of making this kuih in the first place but once I found out that the defrosted pumpkin was soft in nature, I had to change my plan.  Since the soften pumpkin contained lots of liquid so I needed a recipe that suitable for this.  Once I planned on making this, I realized that I only had 100g of rice flour, no more and no less, so I had to create a recipe based on 100g of rice flour.  Luckily it turned out so well and delicious.

This recipe is not hard to make at all.  If you try it, feedback to me ya! ;-)

Pureed Brown Rice Pumpkin Soup

I am not sure of whether to call this brown rice pumpkin soup or brown rice pumpkin porridge.  I made this for my little girl when she was having diarrhea and vomit since everything went into her mouth, it came right out.  I thought if I pureed the porridge, it would go down easier on her.  But guess what?  She refused to eat it, not even a taste test.  The only thing she would eat was Popsicle and of course she could have as many as she wanted since that was the only thing she would eat and won't throw up.

So, I was the one that finished this soup.  I loved it actually, it was sweet and tasted like brown rice.  Now I know what was the difference between white rice porridge and brown rice porridge.  Brown rice taste really stood out. This is suitable for baby, toddler or older people as it's very nutritious and easy to swallow.

Chinese Pumpkin Sesame Cakes

I saw this Pumpkin Sesame Cakes in a Chinese cooking show recently.  It was a pumpkin recipes special and it featured this and a steamed variety.  For the steamed one, the cooking host shaped the dough into a little pumpkin and then steamed it until cooked.  She served it with some sort of sweet syrup.

I was attracted to this pan-fried version as it looked really tasty.  What's more I am also a big fan of sesame seeds so of course I had to give this recipe a try.  I was also curious of how it would taste like.

I gave it a bite to let you see the texture inside of this cake.  It tasted like nian gao, since it was made of glutinous rice flour I guess.  Slightly chewy and not bad at all.  Mine was not sweet enough, I would prefer it to be sweeter.

Spiced Pumpkin Walnut Cake

I cannot get enough of this cake, it is soft and moist and left you wanting more.  This is almost like my Best Ever Pumpkin Cake except it's has a little more egg with added walnut and one additional spice.  This cake is smaller and I used a 8-inch square pan to bake it.  I created this when I used 1 cup of the pumpkin puree to make the cookies and left with one more cup of pumpkin puree.  I loved pumpkin cake above all others, more than pie, cookies, soup, etc.  So of course I got to make it into a cake.

If you have canned pumpkin puree at home, give this recipe a try.  I am waiting for the Libby's canned pumpkin puree to go on sale so that I can stock up and make more of this cake.  YUM! YUM!  Oh yeah, need to buy more of the chopped walnuts too.

Stir Fried Pumpkin with Eggs

Never did I know that stir-frying pumpkin can be so scrumptious.  I saved some of the pumpkin fresh from a pumpkin that we carved earlier.  I had pumpkin porridge before and I really liked it as it was sweet and filling.  But I know my girls don't really fancy porridge so I thought I would try something different.

I stir fried zucchini with this recipe and we all loved it, so why not try it with pumpkin.  It was my first time cooking a stir-frying pumpkin and it was so yummy.  The fish sauce gave this dish an extra boost.  If you have extra fresh pumpkin at home, give this dish a try!  I took this picture at night, so it did not look very appetizing, but don't be fooled by it's look, this is a dish I will make again and again.

Green Tea Pumpkin Seeds

I always wanted to roast some pumpkin seeds.  My opportunity came when I had a bag of pumpkin seeds given by a library event (pumpkin carving) that we went to.  I loved green tea flavor and so automatically I wanted to try green tea flavored roasted pumpkin seeds.  This is definitely good and make a great snack.  Me and my girls all loved it.

Since this was slow roasted for an hour, we can certainly pop the whole thing in the mouth.  It's totally edible with extra fiber and crunch.  You can taste the green tea and salt.  Of course if you choose to just eat the seed, you can do that too. I did that while watching my korean drama.  LOL!

Soft Pumpkin Cookies

What can represent Fall season more than pumpkin?  I just want to make something with pumpkin this time of the year.  I saw this pumpkin cookies recipe on joyofbaking Website and decided to give it a try.  The reason was simple because I never make it before.  This cookie is just like what it stated, soft and cake like in texture.  I certainly would prefer a more chewy one or crispy one.  I used sugar instead of brown sugar as stated in the original recipe, I wonder perhaps it might caused my cookies to be none chewy.  I also omitted the cream cheese frosting.  Anyway, my girls loved it nonetheless so I was glad.  Evy will bring this as her school snack.

As for me, I would love to play and experiment with this recipe some more, as I wanted a crispy pumpkin cookies instead of soft and cake like.  It's like eating a tiny piece of cake on the next day.