Pumpkins are inextricably important to Halloween, so why not enjoy them for more than just… Pumpkins are inextricably important to Halloween, so why not enjoy them for more than just Jack-o’-lanterns and make scrumptious pumpkin dishes?

Let’s smash these bright orange gourds into smithereens and cook with them.

For practicality’s sake, buying canned pumpkin puree is perfectly acceptable, but for a fall kitchen adventure you could try making your own.

Slice a fairly large pumpkin into eight sections, and set pieces on baking sheets. Cook them in an oven at 300 degrees. Start checking them after an hour — it may take an hour and a half — and remove them when the pumpkin becomes tender.

Allow it to cool for about 30 minutes before scooping the pumpkin pulp out of the shell into a large bowl. Mash with a hand mixer and voila, your very own pumpkin puree, chock-full of vitamins and nutrients.

No need to buy separate pumpkins for Jack-o’-lanterns either. Just wait until the day before Halloween or morning of to carve your pumpkin so it doesn’t rot, then make the puree the following day.

And don’t throw out the seeds. Roasted with some salt and paprika, they’re a great fat-free snack, comparable to sunflower seeds. Just spread them out on a sheet of tinfoil in an oven or microwave oven and season to your heart’s content, then bake until crisp.

Armed with pumpkin puree, your options for usage are endless. Here are just a few tasty treat options to make pumpkin a splendid part of your diet.

With one simple batter recipe you can make pumpkin bread, muffins or mini muffins. You are constrained only by the limits of your imagination and baking receptacles.

Pumpkins for breakfast? Absolutely. With a few flips of the wrist, pumpkin pancakes are a delicious morning meal option.

If pancakes from scratch don’t appeal to you, you could make regular ones from a box and serve them with a pumpkin dip.

For a dessert without baking and subsequently minimal effort, try pumpkin cheesecake. Strictly speaking, you could use fat-free cream cheese, but its usage is thought to be a cardinal sin and the most unacceptable of diet cuts.

Apple cider and candy corn are great, but for a true taste of autumn look no further than the pumpkin.

Pumpkin bread/

muffins/mini

muffins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl combine:

1½ cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pumpkin spice

In a separate mixing bowl combine:

1 cup sugar

1 cup pumpkin puree

¾ cup vegetable oil

2 eggs (beaten)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the wet and dry ingredients mix until they are just moistened. Pour the batter into a greased or paper-lined tin of your choice. Bake the time appropriate to your creation: approximately 20 minutes for bread, 15 for muffins, 10 for mini muffins. Keep an eye on them to prevent burning.

Pumpkin Pancakes

In a mixing bowl combine:

½ cup pumpkin puree

2 egg yolks

1 cup milk

In a separate mixing bowl combine:

1 cup flour

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt (optional)

In a third mixing bowl, beat the egg whites. To see if they have reached the correct consistency, lift your mixer out of the bowl and see if the egg whites make stiff peaks.

Combine the ingredients from all three bowls, and mix until well blended. Pour batter onto a greased griddle in quarter cup increments. Wait until the edges begin to cook and bubbles form in the batter before you  flip them. And resist the temptation to flip them with such exuberance that they end up on your floor.

Pumpkin Dip

In a mixing bowl combine:

2 cups pumpkin puree

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ginger

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese

OR

8 oz. of sour cream

Blend well and enjoy with fruit or cookies.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

In a mixing bowl combine:

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese

1 16 oz. can cream cheese frosting

12 oz. pumpkin puree

½ teaspoon allspice

Pour the mixture into a graham cracker pie crust or six mini crusts. Chill for an hour or until the filling becomes firm. Then sprinkle the dessert with cinnamon.

To create a gluten-free dish, mix in a package of vanilla pudding, and chill without the crust in custard dishes.