It's officially fall, which means Pumpkin spice everything!

I know that Grand Cayman does not necessary have "seasons" like in the UK, US and other parts of the world, however, yesterday, September 23rd was the first official day of fall. 

Although temperatures in Cayman are still in the upper 80s, I still cannot help but want to make anything and everything to do with pumpkin! Below are a few of my favourite recipes, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Pumpkin Pie Croissants (so easy, and delicious!):

Ingredients:
2 tubes of refrigerated crescent rolls
8 oz. block of cream cheese
1 c. canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
3 T. sugar or splenda

Directions: 

Heat oven to 375 degrees.Roll each crescent roll out lengthwise and cut in 1/2. Mix all ingredients together until nice and creamy. Spread 1 T. of the mixture onto each crescent roll and roll it up. Mix together 4 T. of sugar and 1 T. of pumpkin pie spice, roll each crescent in the mixture and

Bake at 375 for 15-18 minutes. Enjoy!

Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins:

Ingredients:

1 2/3 c. Flour

1 c. Sugar

1 T. Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 t. Baking Soda

1 t. Baking Powder

1/4 t. salt

2 Eggs

1 c. Pumpkin

1/2 c. Butter, softened

1 c. Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin cups. Thoroughly mix flour, sugar, pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Break eggs into another bowl. Add pumpkin and butter; whisk until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour over dry ingredients and fold in with a rubber spatula just until dry ingredients are moistened. Scoop batter evening into 12-15 muffin cups. Bake 20-25 minutes. You can substitute coconut oil for the butter to make it a bit more healthy, and of course you could put nuts instead of chocolate chips, if you want! 

Pumpkin smoothie:

Ingredients

1 can of pumpkin pie filling 

3 c. of whole milk (almond milk, soy milk or rice milk works great too!)

1/2 c. vanilla yogurt

A few dashes of cinnamon 

Directions:

Well ahead of time, place pumpkin pie filling into a freezer-safe container. Freeze for a few hours or until frozen solid. To make the smoothie, add milk, and yogurt to a blender. Drop in the frozen pumpkin pie filling and blend until the frozen filling is completely pulverized. Add more milk or yogurt as needed to get it the consistency you'd like. Pour into individual glasses and sprinkle the tops with graham cracker crumbs (or a cinnamon/nutmeg mixture). Serve immediately! 

*Note: Make a lower-calorie smoothie by using unsweetened/unflavored pumpkin puree, nonfat plain yogurt, and the sweetener of your choice.

Easy Roast pumpkin:

Ingredients:
3 c. pumpkin, chopped in 1 inch cubes
cinnamon to taste
coconut oil

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place chopped pumpkin onto a cookie sheet, drizzle with coconut oil. Sprinkle with cinnamon, and gently toss. Bake for 40 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender. Enjoy! 

This blog was written by Bethany Miller, Staffing Coordinator at SteppingStones Recruitment Ltd. For our latest jobs visit our website: https://www.steppingstonescayman.com/