Just Add Pumpkin

Brooke Sweeney  

With seasonal change comes a change in flavor, and fall brings with it an explosion of pumpkin flavored everything. From double whipped lattes, to warm soups, to fresh baked goods, it seems that everywhere I go I see pumpkin. Advertisements for pumpkin pie bagels plaster the windows of Panera, and let’s not forget the infamous pumpkin donut that belongs with cider like peanut butter belongs with jelly.

But for us gluten free folks, this time of year can be a bit tough. As we watch our friends and family gobble down bite after bite of pumpkin goodness, we yearn for the perfect pairing that is earthy pumpkin and sweet cinnamon. And, contrary to popular belief, we can have it; it’s as simple as just adding pumpkin.

The other day, hoping to make a sweet treat for a work meeting, I went to the grocery store and let my craving do the talking. Chocolate chip cookies sounded yummy and simple, but then I remembered pumpkin. Why not mix the two? I grabbed gluten free chocolate chip cookie mix and a can of pure pumpkin – not pumpkin pie filling, but the creamy orange goodness of true pumpkin – and headed home to experiment with the two flavors.

After following the instructions on the cookie mix bag, I added two heaping spoonfuls of pumpkin mush. Next came a half-tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice, leftover from last Thanksgiving’s pumpkin adventures. These measurements were really just a guess, and I tasted the cookie dough before baking to make sure I had the perfect ratio. In your own cooking, you can add or subtract as you see fit. I was eager to taste the results of combining the classic flavor of chocolate chip with the golden pride and joy of autumn that is pumpkin. Because gluten is a protein that gives dough it stretchiness, gluten free baked goods can sometimes be dry and brittle. Adding pumpkin helps to moisten the cookies to the perfect consistency.

After throwing them in the oven for a bit longer than the package calls for, the cookies finally emerged. I stared at them longingly as I waited for them to cool. When I finally got to taste, it was well worth the wait. My experiment had produced the chewiest, chocolatiest, most moist pumpkin cookies ever created. And that is no exaggeration. They were so mouthwateringly good my coworkers swooned over them. I baked the same cookies twice in less than four days – a record for a repeat recipe!

With the success of the pumpkin cookie in the bag and an apple orchard visit rapidly approaching, I realized that nothing would highlight some fresh cider like a gluten free pumpkin donut. Having never attempted a gluten free donut before, I returned to the childhood memory of a time my family and I fried up biscuit dough into donuts. Why not try and recreate doughnuts through that same approach? Picking up some gluten free biscuit mix, I once again followed the directions on the box before adding my star ingredients - pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice. I rolled them out and cut them into donut shapes. Here I encountered the one trouble with this recipe (besides eating the whole batch in one sitting, oops!): the donuts stuck to the counter like crazy. I added more biscuit mix to the dough to try and fix this problem, but eventually decided to make donut “holes” instead, which turned out to be just as scrumptious. Once the little golden beauties came out of the hot fryer, I tossed them in a paper bag with some cinnamon and sugar and shook it to coat them. The result was a hot, mouthwatering pumpkin treat that went perfectly with the crisp cold cider.

As you can see, a gluten free diet does not mean you have to resign yourself to a pumpkin-less fall. And best of all, these recipes are great for both gluten free and the gluten eaters alike. In fact, no one could even tell that the cookies and donuts were gluten free. They chowed them down without a second thought, and you can too – all you have to do is add pumpkin.