what can't you do with a can of pumpkin?

"There is no love sincerer than the love of food." -- George Bernard Shaw

And with those words of wisdom I bring you food for thought friday. With pumpkins popping up left and right I had to share two of my favorite pumpkin-related recipes. Mine of course revolve around dessert although the first one is actually a healthy version of my previous pumpkin cookie recipe. But trust me, healthy doesn't mean it's not tasty--it means you can eat twice as many (not true for the pumpkin bars...sorry!)

Easy Pumpkin Cookies
1 (18.25 ounce) spice cake mix
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ingredients until well combined. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until set. Option: leave out chocolate chips and drizzle cream cheese frosting over the top.


Pumpkin Bars
4 eggs
1 2/3 c sugar
1 c vegetable oil
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
2 c flour
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Icing
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese frosting, softened
2 c confectioner's sugar
1/4 c butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 T milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradually add to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Pour into an ungreased 15" x 10" x 1" baking pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool completely.

For icing, beat cream cheese, sugar, butter and vanilla in a small mixing bowl. Add enough of the milk to achieve desired spreading consistency. Spread over bars.

If you have a favorite recipe using canned pumpkin please share it with us. There are always more than enough cans of pumpkin in my pantry! --Emily