Pumpkin Cornbread with Cinnamon Honey Butter

Another recipe from my annual pumpkin dinner party. I also loved this one a lot, but I like cornbread and I think everything tastes better when made from scratch.


Ingredients:

Cornbread

1 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup sour cream
2 large eggs

Whipped Cinnamon Honey Butter

1/2 cup salted butter
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp cinnamon


Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. For the cornbread: In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves for 20 seconds. Make a well in the center of flour mixture then set aside.

3. In a seperate bowl, add brown sugar and break up sugar with fingertips until no clumps remain. Add in melted butter and pumpkin and whisk to combine.

4. Mix in sour cream and eggs until well blended. Pour mixture into well in flour mixture then fold with a rubber spatula just until combined and no streaks of flour remain.

5. Spray an 8x8 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and pour batter into pan. Spread batter into an even layer.

6. Bake in preheated oven until toothpick inserted into center comes out free of batter, about 25-30 minutes. Cool slightly on a wire rack then cut into squares.

7. For the cinnamon honey butter: In a mixing bowl (or using a stand mixer) whip butter with an electric hand mixer until smooth.

8. Add in honey, powdered sugar and cinnamon and mix on low speed until combined, then increase to high speed and whip until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

Pumpkin Curry Soup

Made this soup for my pumpkin dinner party this year and it was so good that as I was eating it I was thinking about how excited I was to make it again. If you like Curry, I'm pretty sure you will love this soup. It was a hit at the party.

Ingredients:

- 2 tsp coconut oil (or extra-virgin olive oil)
- 1 1/2 cups chopped sweet yellow onion (I actually left this out and still really loved the flavor)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp minced fresh ginger (I didn't have any of that so I actually just used the dried spice)
- 3 tbsp Thai red curry paste
- 2-3 cups low sodium vegitable broth (or chicken broth)
- 2 tbsp almond butter (or peanut butter)
- 2 cans pure pumpkin puree (15 ounce cans) not pumpkin pie filling
- 1/2 tbsp coconut sugar ( or light brown sugar- which is what I used)
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 can light coconut milk
- For topping chopped roasted peanuts or pipits


Instructions:

1. In a large pot or dutch oven, melt the coconut oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic and ginger and cook 1 additional minute, until fragrant. Stir in the Thai curry paste.

2. In a small bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together 1/3 cup of the vegetable broth and the almond butter or peanut butter until smooth. Add the mixture to the pot. Add the pumpkin, coconut sugar (or brown sugar), cumin, salt, pepper, cayenne, and 1 2/3 cups of the reminaing vegetable broth. Stir until well combined.

3. With a blender, puree the soup until completely smooth, adding a little of the coconut milk if it is too thick to blend smoothly.
Alternatively, you can ladle the soup carefully into a blender ot food processor and puree it in small batches. Stir in the remaining coconut milk. If the soup is too thick for your liking, add additional vegetable broth until you reach your desired consistency.
(I actually didn't have to mix in a blender because I didn't have the onions. My soup was already smooth as is, so I just added the coconut milk while the pot was on the stove)

4. Taste and add additional salt, black pepper, and or cayenne pepper as desired. Serve hot with deseired toppings.