I’ve been dying to try these pumpkin-y recipes from two of my favorite blogs, The Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking and The Spunky Coconut, for weeks. When I saw organic canned pumpkin on sale at Whole Foods for just $1 a can, I took it as a sign from the great pumpkin gods and decided to have myself a feast of pumpkin treats.
These gluten-free pumpkin cinnamon rolls from The Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking were absolutely delicious. It was only my second time ever baking cinnamon rolls, and if practice makes perfect, I can’t wait to see how much better they look once I get some good practice rolling them. If you haven’t read Kate Payne’s blog or her book by the same name, well… you, sir or madam, are a fool. I got the opportunity to meet Kate and hear about her upcoming book The Hip Girl’s Guide to the Kitchen when I interviewed her for an article in this month’s Austin Woman Magazine, and I can’t wait to read all the fabulous tips and tricks that are sure to be in it.
Because I love the orange-flavored cinnamon rolls in the refrigerated section of the grocery store and have a penchant for cream cheese frosting, I decided to top these beauties with orange cream cheese frosting.
Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
1 10 ounce package of room temperature cream cheese
Zest of one orange
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer using a whisk attachment, or blend in a small food processor. Wait until the rolls cool before spreading it on!
After all that butter and refined sugar (mmm, delicious) I was relieved to try these Pumpkin Chai Bars from The Spunky Coconut. The bars are completely vegan, low-glycemic because they use coconut sugar, and even have a raw crust! They were super fast to put together, and I only had to wait an hour before they were chilled enough to eat. I didn’t have almond meal on hand, so I subbed flax meal and the crust still turned out absolutely perfect. The recipe can even be adapted to make a No-Bake Vegan Pumpkin Pie, which I’ll definitely be making for Turkey Day next week.
Will I ever get sick of pumpkin? I’ll report back after I’ve eaten my fill of these treats, but I’m pretty sure the answer is… never.
HIPPIE EATS 