Thanksgiving Pumpkin Bread

Think of a soft, moist, spiced, dense pumpkin bread for Thanksgiving. This is it! The cream cheese layer is like having a layer of cheesecake baked into pumpkin bread.

Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Filling
Ingredients for Bread:
1 large egg

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup liquid-state coconut oil (canola or vegetable may be substituted)

1/4 cup cup sour cream (lite is okay; or Greek yogurt may be substituted)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2  teaspoon baking powder

1/2  teaspoon baking soda

pinch salt, optional and to taste
Ingredients for Cream Cheese Filling:

1 large egg

4 ounces softened brick-style cream cheese (lite is okay)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Directions for Bread:
Preheat oven to 350F. Spray one 9x5-inch loaf pan with floured cooking spray, or grease and flour the pan; set aside.
Bread - In a large bowl, add the the first ten ingredients, through ground nutmeg, and whisk to combine.
Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, optional salt, and fold with spatula or stir gently with a spoon until just combined; don't over mix; set aside.
Turn about two-thirds of the batter out into the prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula and pushing it into corners and sides as necessary; set aside.
Directions for Cream Cheese Filling - In a large bowl, add all ingredients and whisk to combine. Alternatively, mix with a hand mixer.
Evenly pour filling mixture over the bread, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula and pushing it into corners and sides as necessary.
Top filling with remaining pumpkin batter, smoothing the top very lightly with a spatula as to not disturb cream cheese layer and pushing batter into corners and sides as necessary. Coupons
Bake for about 48 minutes or until the top is domed, golden, and the center is set, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Note this is tricky because the cream cheese never gets totally solid so the toothpick test isn't the most accurate. Tip - Tent the pan with a sheet of foil draped over it at the 35 minute-mark if you feel the tops and sides will become too browned before center cooks through. Baking times will vary based on moisture content of pumpkin, cream cheese, climate, and oven variances. Bake until done; watch your bread, not the clock.
Allow bread to cool in pan for about 15 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving. Bread will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Yield: one 9x5-inch loaf, about 10 slices

Thanks to myhoneysplace.com for the recipe

Mini Pumpkin Pies

Perfect for your Halloween event or Thanksgiving table - adorable mini pumpkin pies that are delicious.

Ingredients:
12 small square wonton wrappers (often stocked with the tofu in the refrigerated section of the supermarket)
3/4 cup canned pure pumpkin
3/4 cup light/low-fat ricotta cheese
3 packets no-calorie sweetener
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Dash salt
Optional toppings: light whipped topping, additional cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray.

Place a wonton wrapper into each cup of the muffin pan. Press it into the bottom and up along the sides.

Lightly spray wrappers with nonstick spray. Bake until lightly browned, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, thoroughly mix remaining ingredients in a medium bowl.

Spoon pumpkin mixture into wonton cups, about 2 tbsp. each.
1/12th of recipe (1 mini pie): 41 calories, 0.5g total fat (0.5g sat fat), 67mg sodium, 6g carbs, 1g fiber, 1.5g sugars, 2g protein
MAKES 12 SERVINGS
Thanks to Hungry Girl for the recipe and stats.

Sweet Potato Casserole

Here's a wonderful Thanksgiving recipe from a yoga instructor and friend, Tianna Hill.

This casserole was shared with me over 20 years ago and has been on our Thanksgiving table ever since. Warning....it is like having dessert on your plate and it is addicting! Enjoy!

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Ingredients:
5 medium sweet potatoes (about 3 cups) boil and mash. Add to the sweet potatoes;
6 T butter (melted)
2 eggs (beaten)
1/2 C milk (we use rice or almond)
1/2 C dark brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix until smooth. Pour mixture into a lightly buttered 11x7 dish and bake for 20 minutes.

Ingredients Topping:
1/2 C brown sugar
4 T flour
4 T butter (softened)
1 C chopped pecans
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix and crumble. Spread over the top of the baked sweet potatoes and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the topping is crispy!

Thanksgiving Vegetable Platter

Go ahead and make a statement with your vegetable platter.  I dare you to try the second one!

Creative Turkey Appetizer

Talk about an inventive use of celery, carrots, green onion, red, yellow, green peppers, olives, cukes and more. Let the photo give the recipe . . .

Other tasty appetizer recipes throughout Tastes & Treasures cookbook.

Turkey Centerpiece with Fruit

Thanksgiving edible centerpiece is fun to make. Let the family create it with you.

Use a melon and flatten the bottom, use a pear for head.
The child can do all the "feathers" with skewers of grapes and cheese.
Another option is to skewer apples and berries for "feathers". 

Thanks to  "Lizzie's everyday tips for living" for this great idea.

Cheese Ball Turkey

Here is a very attractive appetizer cheese ball. Ingredients are your favorite cheese ball with pretzel stick tail. Cheeseball recipe below.

But what should the head be made of? Beef jerkey head and neck?  Colby cheese beak with pimento? Green olive eyes? Get creative and make your own family tradition.

Find many more appetizer recipes in Tastes & Treasures cookbook.

CHEESEBALL

Ingredients:
1 pound bacon
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 green onion, chopped
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:
In a large skillet fry the bacon. Remove the bacon from the skillet and drain on paper towels. Chop or break the cooled bacon into small pieces.
In a medium-size mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, bacon, mayonnaise, and green onions. When mixed well, form 2 balls out of the mixture. Cover and refrigerate 3 to 4 hours, or overnight.
Before serving, roll the cheese balls in the chopped pecans.

Thanks to RecipesFilledWithLove for this great idea.

Halloween Dip

Get festive with this easy layer dip. Anyone want to recreate it for Thanksgiving or Christmas? Think of the possible images you could design with black olives, green olives, pimento, chopped tomato, corn, red peppers . . .

Ingredients:

Refried beans
Sour cream
Salsa
Shredded Cheddar or Mexican cheese
Sliced black olives for eyes, nose & mouth

Directions: Layer these ingredients on the plate and surround with tortilla chips.

Tastes & Treasures cookbook has a warm Mexican Bean Dip recipe on page 181 that would work very well also. Get creative!

Pumpkin Bread for Thanksgiving

Simple and fast . . . the recipe for this pumpkin bread is so moist and delicious, it's a keeper for Thanksgiving. Freezes well.

Great Pumpkin Cookies on page 162 in Tastes & Treasures are another fall treat.

Check out the innovative way to make a Thanksgiving table display with mini pumpkins on top of the candlesticks. Easy and creative.

Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

one 15 oz can of Pure Pumpkin (not pie mix)

one box 18 oz Spice cake mix

two egg yolks (beaten)

Directions: Mix together and pour into individual mini-bread pans (spray with non-

stick cooking spray first) or muffin cups. Bake 15-20 min at 350 degrees or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Recipe variations: Try carrot cake mix with 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup no sugar-added applesauce, 2 tablespoons milled flax seed and 1 egg.

Chopped nuts, chocolate chips, raisins, nutmeg, cinnamon and molasses are wonderful additions too.

Thanksgiving Day with ABC Cake

We celebrated Thanksgiving with friends from Calgary, Alberta and British Columbia even though their celebration was in October. The turkey was done to perfection and Georgia prepared all the trimmings. Eight of us enjoyed the weather with appetizers on the patio, then the BIG meal followed by a hike up the mountain to watch the sunset. A little wine to toast the day was great although I don't know why we carried the stemware up that mountain of rocks. Dessert beckoned us home in the twilight and we enjoyed ABC Cake pg192 on the patio around a roaring fire. A dense, moist cake filled with dried cranberry and dried apricot and hint of banana, it was a great way to end a beautiful November day in Arizona.

Apricot-Banana-Cranberry Cake (ABC Cake)

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 large very ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted
6 ounces dried cranberries
6 ounces dried apricots, chopped
1 1/4 cups walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Beat the sugar, bananas, eggs and vanilla in a mixing bowl until blended. Add the buttermilk and butter and beat until smooth. Beat in the flour mixture. Fold in the cranberries, apricots and walnuts just until combined.
Spoon the batter into a buttered and floured 12-cup bundt pan and bake for 60-70 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Invert onto the wire rack to cool completely.
Serves 16