P-p-p-Pumpkin!

Last week I snagged a pumpkin at Save-On, where they were on sale for $4 each. I could buy canned, but fresh and home-processed is way better, and much cheaper.

I began by cutting up the pumpkin and removing the seeds, which I rinsed well, salted and roasted. I put the pumpkin, skin up, on a baking sheet lined with one of my trusty silicone baking mats. I put the oven at 375F and just under an hour later, I had a whole bunch of pumpkiny goodness.

After letting the pumpkin cool slightly, I scraped the flesh from the skin and put the flesh in a sieve over a bowl, because you need to get as much of the water out of the pumpkin as possible. Every so often, as the pumpkin cooled, I mashed it against the side of the sieve to press out more water. When it was completely cool and didn't look like there was much water left in it, I packaged it up into 1 cup bundles and froze them. I got nearly 5 cups, which is great! I also got a great couple of snacks from the roasted pumpkin seeds.

Today I made some cookies with the pumpkin, and they were fantastic. I've really been fancying some pumpkin baking and I had a taste for pumpkin combined with chocolate.

Pumpkin, Chocolate Chip, and Cranberry Cookies

2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp each allspice and cloves
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp each salt and baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 can/15oz/1 3/4 cups pumpkin
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Beat together butter & sugar until light & fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and pumpkin. Combine well. Sift together dry ingredients and combine with the butter mixture. Fold in chocolate chips & cranberries.
3. Bake for 12 - 15 m or until golden brown and edges are slightly browned. Remove to wire racks and cool completely.

Enjoy!