30 Days of Pumpkin-Day Twelve: Pumpkin "You-know-what"

Many moons ago, when I was a newlywed who had no clue in the kitchen, I used to make this cookie/candy/bar thingie that Mrblocko referred to as Pantry Crack.

It was a toffee that consisted of butter, brown sugar, chocolate chips and saltines.  Mrblocko named it Pantry Crack because I ALWAYS had the ingredients on hand and because it was so damn addictive.

I'm not exactly sure why I stopped making it.  Maybe because I felt that my skills were so greatly improved that I felt it was beneath me to prepare something so simple.  That's possible, but a more likely explanation would be that I enjoyed having my pants fit.

Discovering a pumpkin-y twist on this tasty treat, from Cherished Bliss, put aside all my kitchen snobbery, and my skinny jeans.

They are so easy to make I was able to whip these up while simultaneously talking on the phone and helping Blockette with her homework.  (I'm normally a two things at a time kinda girl...so that's really saying something.)

So why is this post called Pumpkin You-know-what?  Heh, well, I was originally referring to them as "Pumpkin Crack" as a bit of nostalgia from when I made the original bars.  However, Blockette thought I was saying "Crap" instead of "Crack."  So, whenever she would mention them, she would hesitate and say "you know what," so she wouldn't get in trouble for saying a Bad word.

Pumpkin Crap Crack Toffee from Cherished Bliss
about 2 sleeves of Saltine crackers
1c butter
1 c br sugar
1/4c canned pumpkin
2 t pumpkin seasoning (use less if you don't want a strong pumpkin taste)
11.5 oz white chocolate chips
optional: 1-2 T semi sweet chocolate chips (original recipe called for a handful. This many made the top look muddy vs. marbled.)

Preheat oven to 400. Line jelly roll pan or rimmed baking sheet with foil and then parchment.  Eliminating this step will result in sadness.  If you skip both or just use parchment, your bars will not release nicely from the pan.  If you use only foil, your foil will not release nicely from your bars. (The parchment paper trick was new to me and I sang as I removed the bars from the pan.  Getting the foil off of the toffee part of the bars is not fun.  Not fun at all.)  On top of the parchment, place your saltines.  Break them as you see fit.  Just make sure you cover the entire pan.

In a medium pan, bring the butter, sugar, pumpkin and spice to a boil over med high heat.  Boil for 3 min.  Pour toffee mixture over the saltines.  Bake for 5 minutes.  The toffee will be bubbling,  Remove the pan from the oven, and turn the oven off.  Sprinkle the chips over the toffee saltines.  With the oven door open, place the bars back in the oven, with the oven OFF.  My chips were softened after 2 minutes.  Spread out the chips making pretty swirly designs.  Let the bars sit on the counter for about an hour until the chocolate just begins to set up.  Cut into squares using the crackers as a rough guide.  (my crackers tend to shift around in the pan as they are made so I just eyeball it.)  Before breaking into pieces, let the bars cool completely.  I placed mine in the freezer for 15 min.  Break bars apart and store in the freezer.

Wild Rice Flat Bread Fail

I made this Wild Rice Flatbread from Pinch of Yum because I had all this leftover wild rice.  The pictures on the website also looked so appetizing.  Unfortunately, my flatbread did not turn out at all like the pictures.

Pinch of Yum's flat bread was a lovely golden brown.  Mine was dark blackish brown.  And before you ask if I burnt it, let me say, "NO!  I did NOT!"  It was that color after I pureed it.

The darn thing also did not want to cook. After 15 minutes I tried to flip it using the towel technique mentioned in the recipe and the whole thing fell apart completely.  It had not set at all.  I was able to mash it back together in the pan and form a patty again.

Long story short, it took an hour in the oven before the rice flat bread had set up.  This was not the quick lunch I was hoping for!

The crispy edges were OK, but the center was still quite mushy.  I'm sure I could have continued to cook it for another 30-45 minutes, but I didn't feel like spending that much time on something that just turned out OK.

So what went wrong?  I'm thinking because of the texture of the rice the original recipe resulted in a lighter bread, they used a wild rice blend.  Mine was 100% wild rice.  I think the starch from the regular rice may have help bind everything together.  Also, I think that I just don't care for wild rice plain.  Another reason for using a wild rice blend, it gives a bit of texture and flavor variety.

I wanted this recipe to work so badly, but I guess it just wasn't in the cards.  Please let me know if you try it and how it works out for you!


Wild Rice Flatbread from Pinch of Yum
2 c cooked wild rice (or “instant” wild rice, wild rice blend, etc I suggest the wild rice blend)
1/2 c water
2 egg whites
1 clove of garlic
1 tbs. flaxseed meal
 a sprinkle of red pepper flakes
1/2 tbs. olive oil
salt
pepper

Preheat to 425F. Grease a heavy skillet with oil. Spread it out so bottom and sides are well covered.
Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until  batter-like (about 30 seconds). Pour into pan. Bake for 15 min and remove from oven. Using a spatula, flip flatbread over and bake for another 15 min. Check doneness and bake for 5 min if needed. You’ll know when it’s done because it starts to pull away from the sides of the pan. (Mine never did this) Remove from oven, cool, cut, and serve with hummus or other dips.

Tex Mex Crackers

Back in December I made these Ranch flavored oyster crackers. They were super addictive and I put them on everything from soup to salads.  I could not stop eating them.

So when I saw this recipe for Tex Mex Crackers in the kid's recipe book American Grub, by Lynn Kuntz, I knew I had to make some right away.

I fiddled with the recipe just a wee bit.  The original directions do not call for baking the coated crackers.  This made the crackers really greasy, and the seasoning stuck to your fingers, not the crackers when you tried to nibble on a handful.  Not good.

Over all, these were a tasty treat.  They weren't as addictive as the ranch crackers, but that was a good thing.  It helped facilitate portion control. And that is a good thing, particularly since oyster crackers have a fairly high fat content when it comes to crackers.

Here's what we did when we made our version of the Tex Mex Crackers:
1 12 oz pkg oyster crackers
1 1/2 T Taco seasoning
1/4 t chili powder
1/4 t garlic powder
1/8 t oregano
1/8 t cumin
1/3 c oil (I think 1/4 c would be sufficient)

Mix. Bake 250F for 15 min. Stir every 5 min.  Cool and eat.

Graham Cracker Frozen Treats

A few weeks ago I got this crazy notion to make some graham crackers.

Weird, huh? Why make graham crackers when they are so cheap at the store?

Cause I wanted to see if I could.

It turns out they weren't any harder than making cookies.  The hardest part was rolling them very very thin.  I wound up making graham crackers from the recipe over at Culinary Adventures in the Kitchen.  I chose that particular recipe because it was so unusual. It uses whole wheat flour instead of white, and instead of butter, the fat is olive oil. 

No one could taste the olive oil in the crackers.  I'm not sure if that was because they just don't taste olive oil-y, or because I sprinkled the tops of the crackers with a cinnamon sugar blend that had orange zest in it.  All you could really taste was the orange cinnamon goodness.

But it wasn't enough to just make the Graham crackers.  Nope.  I had to take it one step further. I made them into "ice cream" bars using sweet puddin'head filling, an idea I pilfered from Not Just Cute.  Sweet puddin'head is basically a mixture of Cool Whip and pudding.  I used sugar free vanilla pudding mix and Lite Cool Whip, cause that makes it healthy, doncha know.  And we are all about the healthy desserts in this house.  (Insert eye roll here.)

 

MMMMM! Delicious!

What is great about these frozen goodies is that they don't turn into a brick after chilling.  They firm up nicely in the freezer, but aren't so rock hard that a child with two missing front teeth couldn't consume them.   It did take the toothless child a considerable amount of time to eat her ice cream bar, but I am not entirely certain that had anything to do with her lack of pearly whites.

While I won't be making the graham crackers again this summer, (unless we get another cool spell,) I will make these treats again with store bought crackers.  I can't wait to try other pudding flavors.  I'm particularly looking forward to the cheesecake pudding flavor.  

Graham Crackers from Culinary Adventures in the Kitchen
2 cups whole-wheat flour
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup honey
2-3 tablespoons milk
additional milk for glaze
cinnamon-sugar (optional)

In a mixing bowl, combine whole wheat flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and baking powder. In a separate bowl, beat egg till light, then add oil, honey and 2 T milk. Stir into dry ingredients until you have a fairly stiff dough, adding additional milk if necessary. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 1 hour (or longer, if it’s more convenient). Preheat your oven to 375°F. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead gently until it holds together. Roll dough out till it’s about 1/16-inch thick; make sure rolling surface is well-floured, or you’ll have trouble transferring crackers to baking sheet. Cut dough into 3" squares (or cut out using cookie cutters), prick each square several times with a fork, and place on lightly greased cookie sheets.  Brush tops with milk, sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar, and bake 15-20 min, til crackers are lightly browned. Remove crackers from oven, transfer to a wire cooling rack, and cool completely.

Sweet Puddin'head from Not Just Cute
8oz cool whip or similar
1 package of pudding mix
half milk suggested on pudding box

Combine milk and pudding until thick.  Fold in cool whip.  This recipe is actually just a guideline. Use any combination or size of cool whip or pudding.  You can even add some cream cheese if that suits your fancy. 

Just try not to eat the whole bowl in one sitting.  Save some for ice cream sandwiches! 

I stuck the filling in a zip bag and piped them onto the crackers. This made things a lot less messy for me.

Ranch Oysters

Ok...so they aren't really oysters. Oysters are gross. These are ranch flavored Oyster CRACKERS. (The only kind of oysters one should really eat...if you know what's good for you!)

I found this super simple recipe for ranch oyster snack crackers from examiner.com.    They take 20 minutes tops to make, and that's only if you're a slow poke like me.  I think they'd make a great last minute snack to take to a party!  You can even go crazy and use them on your soup, or in lieu of  croutons in your salad. 

Ranch Oyster Crackers from The Examiner
1 (1 oz) package ranch dressing mix
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 t dried dill weed (or to your taste)
1/2 t garlic powder (or to your taste)
1 box or bag oyster crackers

Preheat oven to 250°. In a large mixing bowl, combine first 5 ingredients and mix well. Stir in oyster crackers mix to coat. Pour crackers onto a large cookie sheet. Bake 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so. Cool and add to a covered container.

Mock Raincoast Crisps

Are you aware of the deliciousness that is Lesley Stowe's Raincoast Crips? My mom brought a box of the rosemary raisin pecan crackers one time when she came to visit. Oh my goodness. They put the crack in cracker. However, just like crack, they are expensive habit to maintain.

At least they were until I found a recipe for rosemary raisin crisps at Dinner with Julie. They taste exactly the same...and at a fraction of the cost. I had to buy a few ingredients that I don't normally buy, but the cost of the supplies were much less than an entire box of crackers. Seriously...there is a store by me that sells them for $9. Nine. Dollars. For. One. Box. Ngaaaaa.

Anyways...I baked this recipe in 4 mini loaf pans. Do not eat the bread before you slice and bake it a second time, it is not anything spectacular. Wait until you crisp the crackers in the oven. Trust me! The loaves really need to be frozen in order to slice them thin enough. For this reason, the recipe is a lot of hurry up and wait. The actual prep is easy, mix everything together. Wait while it bakes. Wait while it cools to room temp. Wait while the loaves freeze. Slice then bake. I like these crackers enough that they are worth the process.One mini loaf yielded about the same as one box. Did I mention that one recipe makes 4 mini loaves? And you keep them in the freezer until you need/want them. So awesome.
So far, I've only found 2 negative things about this recipe. First, you have to eat the crackers fairly shorty after baking since they contain no preservatives. This really isn't too much of a problem because I like to eat them a lot, so they go quickly. If you aren't a mega cracker eater then it might be a problem for you. The second problem was that the raisins sunk to the bottom of the loaf. Maybe coating them with flour mixture first would be a good way to prevent this? Once I work my way through the rest of the loaves I will give that a shot.

Rosemary Raisin Pecan Crisps from Dinner With Julie
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds (optional)
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup flax seed, ground
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary

Preheat oven to 350° F. In a large bowl, stir flour, baking soda and salt. Add buttermilk, brown sugar and honey and stir a few strokes. Add raisins, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, flax seed and rosemary and stir just until blended. Pour the batter into two 8”x4” loaf pans that have been sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake 35 min, until golden and springy to the touch. Remove from the pans and cool on a wire rack. The cooler bread, the easier it is to slice really thin. You can leave it until the next day or pop it in the freezer. Slice loaves as thin as you can and place slices in a single layer on an ungreased cookie sheet. (I like to slice and bake one loaf and pop the other in the freezer for another day.) Reduce  oven heat to 300° F and bake 15 min, then flip over and bake 10 min, til crisp and deep golden.