Fragrant Vanilla Cake

Tag: pumpkin seeds

Spiced Pumpkin Seed Brittle
I love making peanut brittle around the holidays. I remember my Grandparents always had peanut brittle around during Christmas and enjoying it as a kid. I like to make it now around Christmas, and I plan on doing it this year. But this Fall I thought some Spiced Pumpkin Seed Brittle would be delicious! Why not make a seasonal twist on a favorite! It is super easy to make too!

Some peanut brittles have a few more ingredients than mine but I find that I don’t need all of them. When I make regular peanut brittle it has only 3 ingredients and comes out just right every time. This one 3 ingredients without the spices as well. For this one, I first added sugar, salt and spices to a pan. I included the pumpkin pie spices, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves and honestly it smelled amazing while cooking.

It is really easy to make, you just melt all of the ingredients together in a pan over medium heat stirring often until the sugar melts and becomes completely liquid. You want it to melt and start to brown but not burn, and that is when you add the pumpkin seeds and pour it out onto a pan. You have to work quickly as it hardens fast. I used turbinado sugar this time because that was what I had on hand, but you can use maple sugar or just granulated sugar if you wish.

This turned out so delicious and it was so simple to make! It was sweet, crunchy, lightly spiced and satisfying! My husband loved it so much the entire batch was gone in about 2 days. I mean it is hard to stop eating it once you start snacking! If you are in the mood for something sweet, definitely give this Spiced Pumpkin Seed Brittle a try!

Spiced Pumpkin Seed Brittle

Makes 16 servings
- 2 cups turbinado sugar or granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/16 tsp ground cloves
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 1 1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
Instructions:
1. To make the brittle, in a non-stick pan, melt the sugar, spices and salt until completely smooth and liquid over medium heat (this should take about 5 minutes).
2. Add the pumpkin seeds, stir until mixed in well, then pour onto a sheet of parchment or foil and allow to cool completely.
3. Once it has cooled, break into small pieces and enjoy!
November 6, 2023
Maple Pumpkin Seed Butter Cups
Pumpkin seed butter is something that is totally under appreciated. I actually really like it! Its lovely green color, slightly nutty flavor and rich texture! Raw Guru recently sent me some Dastony sprouted pumpkin seed butter and I was excited. I tend to get stuck in the rut of eating peanut butter and almond butter or using tahini but pumpkin seed butter is actually really delicious and really healthy! Pumpkin seeds are high in antioxidants and magnesium, and have a good amount of fiber. I am trying to get more of a variety in the things I eat and get out of those ruts so pumpkin seed butter is the perfect thing to switch it up with. Plus I feel like we are getting into pumpkin seed season here. I know it is not technically fall, but September is fall as far as I am concerned. Next month we will be carving pumpkins and toasting the seeds! Which is actually something I look forward to every year. My Mom used to roast the seeds when I was little for us to enjoy as a snack, so I continue on with the tradition.

Back to that pumpkin seed butter though, I thought it would be good to include it in a recipe, especially since some of my readers may have a nut allergy and this would be suitable for them. The first thing I made is some pumpkin seed butter cups. Because I was craving nut butter cups and I figured the beautiful green pumpkin seed butter would be perfect in some! It has to be one of the prettiest nut butters there is.

I could have just put it into the cups as it was just plain with a little sea salt and that would have been good, but I thought it would be even better with a touch of maple syrup added to it. It was a delicious combination and I could have just eaten it that way with a spoon but I knew it would be even more crave worthy with the dark chocolate. They were totally heavenly. I love peanut butter cups, but these are just as good! The pumpkin seed butter is rich and just sweet enough with a hint of maple flavor and the intense dark chocolate is the perfect pairing with it!

I am one of those people who likes really intense dark chocolate with a high cacao content, so I usually mix a regular dark chocolate with some unsweetened chocolate to achieve this balance. But if you are more of a sweet (vegan) milk chocolate person go for it with that! That is what making things like this is about, enjoying the process of making them, modifying them to your tastes and enjoying your work! Although, these are pretty easy not too much hard work involved. If you get your hands on some pumpkin seed butter, give these a try!

Maple Pumpkin Seed Butter Cups
Makes 6 large cups

Chocolate:
- 1 1/2 cups vegan dark chocolate chips, or vegan dark chocolate chopped
Filling:
- 1/4 cup Dastony sprouted pumpkin seed butter* (chilled to thicken it)
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions:
1. Melt the dark chocolate in the top of a double boiler until smooth.
2. Spoon a little chocolate into the bottoms of 6 peanut butter cup molds set on a plate or tray, filling them about 1/4-1/3 full. Place in the freezer until hard, about 10 minutes.
3. Mix together the pumpkin seed butter, maple syrup and sea salt until smooth.
4. Spoon a heaping 1 tsp of the pumpkin seed butter mixture over the hardened dark chocolate layer, then pour the remaining dark chocolate over it in the cups until the pumpkin seed butter is covered, and tap the tray on the counter to level it.
5. Place them in the freezer until set, about 20 minutes.
6. Enjoy! Store any extra in the refrigerator.
*If your pumpkin seed butter is particularly runny, you may want to mix a Tbsp of coconut butter with it to thicken it up a little bit.

*If you can’t find pumpkin seed butter, you can make your own by blending up 4 cups of raw pumpkin seeds with about 1/2 tsp sea salt in a high speed blender and using the tamper to press them down into the blades until smooth. It is a bit thicker and less spreadable than store bought, but if you want it more smooth, you can add a few Tbsp avocado oil to it while blending.
September 7, 2020
Roasted Spring Vegetable Buddha Bowl
I tend to eat the same 4 things every week for dinner. Unless I am creating a new recipe then I will vary what I make. But the rest of the time when I make the same things it is mostly just because I know what I like, and because it ends up being a no brainer to make those recipes once I do it so many times. One of those items I make all the time is buddha bowls. I sometimes use different vegetable ingredients based off of what time of the year it is and what is in season or what I have on hand. I switch off quinoa and brown rice for the grain usually. But my current favorite is this one involving Spring vegetables.

I get kind of excited about the different types of produce that can be found in the store in the Spring, Summer and Fall. But in the Spring I feel like I have been kind of deprived for a while of all of the super fresh vegetable type stuff since here in Minnesota we can’t really grow anything unless it is indoors. So it is awesome to see things like asparagus and radishes. I like to eat radishes raw but the other day when I made this bowl I thought to myself, how would they be roasted? The answer to that is super delicious. They kind of lose that peppery bite that they have and become a bit sweeter, kind of similar to roasting turnips.

I combined them with asparagus, which I could not resist buying since it is so springy. As well as carrots, chickpeas and avocado in my bowl over brown rice and it was sooo good! But the part that made it really all come together was the creamy pumpkin seed butter sauce that I put over it all. I made it with Dastony Pumpkin Seed Butter from Raw Guru and you would swear it had dairy or cream or something in it it is nice and rich tasting.

I added a little cumin, chipotle, lemon garlic and salt to it so that it was similar to a classic tahini dressing, but it was even more delicious since the pumpkin seeds don’t have that bitterness that tahini sometimes has. This bowl was so good I will probably be making it for the rest of Spring. If you are in need of a hearty healthy dinner that tastes like comfort food, give this a try!

Roasted Spring Vegetable Buddha Bowl
Serves 2-3
- 2/3 cup brown jasmine rice
- 1 1/3 cups filtered water
- 2 cups sliced carrots
- 2 cups asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces
- 2 cups radishes, quartered
- avocado oil
- sea salt
Sauce:
- 1/2 cup Dastony pumpkin seed butter
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/4 cup filtered water (or as needed)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/8 tsp dried chipotle pepper
- 1/4 tsp sea salt or to taste
To assemble:
- organic greens, such as arugula, spinach or spring mix
- 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
- 1 avocado, diced
Instructions:
1. Place rice and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Reduce to a low simmer, cover and cook until all the water is absorbed about 25-30 minutes, or when the rice is tender.
2. Meanwhile, to cook the veggies, preheat the oven to 400F degrees. Toss the veggies with just enough oil to coat them lightly, then spread out on a sheet pan and sprinkle with sea salt Place in the over and roast until they are tender and starting to brown, about 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven.
3. Whisk together the sauce ingredients, adding water to achieve your desired consistency.
4. To assemble, put some greens into the bottom of each bowl, then top with the rice, the chickpeas, the veggies, and avocado. Drizzle the sauce over the contents of the bowl. Serve!
June 1, 2019
Vegan Milk Recipes

Non-dairy milks are becoming more popular than ever. Not only because they are better for your body, but because they are preventing harm to animals as well. Many people think that milk is cruelty free, but they couldn’t be further from the truth. The cows are not allowed to roam free as they please all the time as the dairy industry would like us to believe, instead they are kept in small crates, and impregnated over and over again (basically raped, they even call the apparatus that holds them while it happens “rape racks”) so that they are always producing milk. But this milk that they produce for the baby that they just gave birth to doesn’t go to the baby, it instead is sold for human consumption. If the baby happens to be a female, the cycle starts over. If it is a male, it is killed and sold for veal (pretty sad they don’t even get a chance to live, even though it is not much of a life). At around 4 years old, female dairy cows are sent to slaughter. If cows are allowed to live out their natural life and roam free they can live up to 25 years. Pretty sad isn’t it? Makes the idea of milk not taste so good anymore. Humans aren’t even meant to drink dairy milk, our bodies have a hard time digesting it because it was meant for cows, not us. If you are a milk lover and don’t want to support the dairy industry, I have good news for you. There are plenty of wonderful substitutes for it! Now, you can buy it at the store if you wish, but if you do so I recommend reading ingredients. The milk should preferably only have things that you can pronounce, and not a bunch of added refined sugar. Personally though, I like to make my own non-dairy milk. It is really easy, and I think it tastes better than the stuff at the store.

There are many different types of milk you can make, and they each have different purposes or things that they work the best for. I like to use coconut milk for my dessert recipes because it is rich, fairly neutral, and if you buy the full fat canned variety, it whips up beautifully for whipped coconut cream. I also feel that it works the best for using in coffee or matcha lattes (my hot drink of choice over coffee) in place of cream. You can make your own coconut milk if you are going to be using it on cereal by blending 1 cup fresh young coconut meat with 2 cups coconut water until smooth. Another type of milk that I enjoy is nut milks. As a general rule, any nut can be made into milk. As far as proportions for making it go, 1 cup nuts (soaked for 4-8 hours) and 3-4 cups filtered water (depending on how thick you like it). If you don’t have time to soak nuts, and are in a hurry a really quick way to make nut milk is to blend 1/4 cup nut butter with 2 cups filtered water until smooth (you can play around with the proportions if you want it thicker or thinner). I have done this with cashew butter, almond butter, and pecan butter with great results!

I know not everyone can tolerate nuts though, and in that case, seeds make delicious milk too! I have two recipes below, one for sunflower seed milk, and one for a Mexican chocolate pumpkin seed milk that are delicious! Making your own milk is so easy and so worth it! The best part is you can flavor the milks however you like. Sometimes I add fruit to them as well for a summery treat reminiscent of that strawberry milk I used to drink in elementary school as a child. That milk was probably artificially flavored though. I have actually always preferred non-dairy milk to the real thing though despite the school lunches. My Mom never kept dairy milk in the house, it was always soymilk because she couldn’t tolerate the dairy. I am not a huge fan of soymilk now, but if I were to buy it I would make sure it was organic, non-GMO and no sugar added. I hope this post has been helpful to you if you were on the fence about whether to eliminate dairy from your diet, here are some recipe links, and the recipes I mentioned above in case you would like to make your own vegan milk!

Raw Chocolate Hazelnut Milk

Brazil Nut Milk (by The Full Helping)

Raw Pumpkin Spice Coconut Milk

Raw Strawberry Almond Milk

Raw Mocha Almond Milk

Vanilla Hemp Milk

Macadamia Nut Milk (by Plant Over Processed)

Sunflower Seed Mylk
Makes about 4 cups

3 1/2-4 cups filtered water
1 cup raw sunflower seeds
pinch sea salt
4 pitted medjool dates
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Place all ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass container and store in the refrigerator.

Mexican Chocolate Pumpkin Seed Mylk
Makes about 4 cups

3 1/2-4 cups filtered water
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
pinch sea salt
1/4 cup pitted medjool dates
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp chipotle powder

Place all ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass container and store in the refrigerator.

February 3, 2017
Spring Roasted Carrot Pasta

I have had lots of carrots on hand lately, mostly because of my love of carrot cake, and making a few carrot cake things, but of course I had some leftover. It was time for something savory. I know I have a dessert blog, but some days I end up craving more savory things. This was one of those days. I also had a lot to do, so I was not in the mood for making something complicated. A pasta dish was perfect.

I really didn’t eat much pasta in the last 5 years, until I discovered pasta made from beans instead of wheat. Wheat and me do not always agree you see. The bean pasta though, leaves me feeling good not bloated and heavy. I decided to use edamame spaghetti for the carrot pasta I made.

The lovely green pasta against the orange carrots would be lovely, I thought to myself. I do think about food in terms of how it will look and color as well as how it will taste. I kept this dish simple, roasted the carrots to crispy at the edges perfection, added some toasted pumpkin seeds, arugula, and tossed it all with a little lemon and olive oil. So simple, but so good. Perfect for Spring as well. I can not wait until the farmer’s markets open, and they are selling things like home grown baby carrots!

Spring Roasted Carrot Pasta

Serves 2

6 medium carrots, sliced 1/2 inch thick

olive oil

4 oz organic edamame spaghetti pasta

1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds

1 handful arugula

2 Tbsp lemon juice

zest of one lemon

1 Tbsp olive oil

sea salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 400F degrees, toss the carrots with just enough olive oil to coat, and spread out on a sheet pan. Roast for about 30 minutes until tender. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package directions. Once the pasta has finished cooking, drain it, and toss it together with the carrots and all other remaining ingredients. Serve!

March 22, 2016
Sweet and Spicy Double Squash Salad

I can never get enough of squash when it comes into season. It is so good roasted especially, and butternut and buttercup are so sweet that they almost taste like dessert to me. So I eat it about as much as I can while I can get the local varieties. It is kind of addictive. One year, when I was younger, my Mom said I had a squash tan, because I ate so much it tinted my skin a little orange. I did not mind though. I try to be a little more balanced with my veggies now, getting a variety of different ones, but if I had to pick one veggie this time of the year, it would be squash. The other night, I decided I wanted to enjoy a simple squash salad for dinner, and it turned out so tasty that I decided I needed to share the recipe with you all.

I actually had butternut squash and zucchini, so it ended up being a double squash salad! I roasted them both to deliciousness, then tossed them with cranberries, a sweet and spicy dressing with jalapeno, maple syrup, citrus and toasted cumin. lastly, I made some spiced pumpkin seeds to sprinkle over it all. Was it ever delicious! I served it with grilled tempeh on the side, and it made the perfect autumn dinner!

Serves 2-3

1 large (or 2 smaller) butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed

4 medium zucchini, cut into thick half moons

olive oil

sea salt

Spiced Pumpkin Seeds:

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1 Tbsp maple syrup

sea salt to taste

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground chipotle peppers

1 Tbsp coconut sugar

Dressing:

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp maple syrup

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp toasted whole cumin seeds

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 jalapeno, seeded and minced

sea salt to taste

1/2 cup cranberries

To prepare the squash, heat the oven to 400F degrees, and oil 2 sheet pans. Toss the butternut squash with just enough olive oil to coat, and spread out on one of the sheet pans. Do the same with the zucchini. Place both in the oven and roast until the squash is tender. About 20-30 minutes for the zucchini, and about 40-50 minutes for the squash (rotate the pans half way through). Once they are done, let cool until just warm.

Meanwhile, to make the pumpkin seeds, add all ingredients but the sugar to a pan, and cook over medium heat until the seeds are toasted and the syrup starts to evaporate. Add the coconut sugar and stir to coat. Remove from heat.

Whisk together dressing ingredients in a small bowl.

In a large bowl, combine the squash, the cranberries, and the pumpkin seeds, and toss together until well coated. Serve!

November 14, 2015
Raw Maple Cinnamon Pumpkin Seed Walnut Butter

I am a big fan of making your own nut butter at home. Not only is it usually more cost effective, but you can create new blends of nuts that you would not find in a store. Sometimes I make flavors with dessert in mind like Raw Pecan Brownie Batter Butter or Raw Sugar Cookie Dough Butter, and other times it is just a blend like Macadamia Coconut Butter (which are all heavenly by the way).
This last week when I was making nut butter I wanted something a little in between. I had been grinding up pumpkin seeds at work for a recipe (I work in a deli), and I thought some pumpkin seed butter might be interesting. I had never tried it and I am always up for trying something new. I went for it when I got home and I was craving something a little sweet so I decided that maple and cinnamon would be lovely in the nut butter. I ended up adding in a few walnuts as well to make it more creamy, and some coconut sugar for low glycemic sweetness.

It ended up tasting amazing and has since become something that I stir into my morning oatmeal. I enjoyed the pumpkin seeds so much that I decided to create a savory version as well that I have the recipe for below the sweet one. The savory nut butter is great for making a quick salad dressing. I think I will keep using pumpkin seeds often in my daily use nut butters because they are cost effective (way cheaper than other nuts), packed with nutrients and yummy!

Raw Maple Cinnamon Pumpkin Seed Walnut Butter
Makes about 2 1/2 cups

3 cups raw pumpkin seeds
1 cup raw walnuts
3/4 cup coconut sugar (or you may use maple sugar)
1/4 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp maple extract

In a high speed blender, combine the seeds and nuts and blend until smooth (alternatively this can be done in a food processor but it takes a lot longer and will most likely not get as smooth). Add the coconut sugar, sea salt, cinnamon vanilla, and maple extract and blend until smooth. Store in a jar.

Variation: Savory Pumpkin Seed Walnut Butter
Omit the sugar, vanilla and maple and replace the cinnamon with 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp dried thyme and 1/2 tspground chipotle powder.

This savory nut butter makes a wonderful dressing if you combine 1 cup of the nut butter, 1 cup water 1 garlic clove, and 1/4 tsp salt in a blender and blend until smooth. I like to keep a bottle of this in the fridge for salads.

March 14, 2015
Raw Pumpkin Seed Falafels

Sprout Living was kind enough to send me some of their products to sample, and one of them was their Simple Signature Pumpkin Seed Protein Powder. I love the idea of this protein powder because it is super simple and contains only one ingredient: pumpkin seeds. Pumpkin seeds are packed with nutrients, and I have been using them in some of my other recipes, so I was excited about this. The first thing that came to mind, was using them in a savory recipe since the powder is pretty neutral and I felt it would add protein to a recipe without flavoring it.

I was craving some raw falafels so that is what I decided to make. I love having a quick source of protein for lunch that I can throw on my salad (because I usually eat a pile of veggies with some type of protein every day). So, I made a batch of these and they lasted me 3 days which made me happy. I used my carrot pulp leftover from juicing along with the protein powder and some spices to make the falafel base, dehydrated them for a short time until the outside was a little crisp, and voila! Falafel deliciousness! I am a big fan of traditional falafel so it makes me happy that I can have these to satisfy my craving for them without all of the deep frying. I threw them on my salad, and drizzled it all with some pumpkin seed dressing which can also double as just a dipping sauce for these babies.

The pumpkin seed protein powder was perfect in these, and it kept the recipe simple. I wish I had had some last time I made falafels! I have used the pumpkin seed protein in a few smoothies as well and it is nice and neutral blending into the other flavors, but keeping me full and energized. If you would like to buy some for yourself, you can find it on the Sprout Living Website HERE.

Raw Pumpkin Seed Falafels
Makes 12

2 cups carrot pulp (leftover from juicing)
1 garlic clove
1/4 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
1/4 tsp chipotle powder
1 tsp ground cumin seed
6 scoops Sprout Living Signature Simple Pumpkin Seed Protein Powder

In a food processor, combine all ingredients and pulse until well blended and starting to hold together when squeezed. Roll into 12 balls, and place on a lined dehydrator tray. Dehydrate for about an hour until warm and crispy on the outside. Serve with Pumpkin Seed Butter Dipping Sauce (recipe follows) or on a salad with the sauce drizzled over.

Pumpkin seed butter dip/dressing:
Makes 1/2 cup

1/4 cup raw pumpkin seed butter
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp filtered water
sea salt to taste
1/2 tsp ground cumin
pinch of ground chipotle powder
1 small garlic clove, minced

Whisk together all ingredients until smooth (if you would like it thinner, add a little more water). Serve with the falafel for dipping or as a dressing on a salad with the falafel.

March 14, 2015