Pumped for Pumpkin Recipes
September 20, 2011By Charlyn Fargo
Did you know that farmers in Illinois grow more pumpkins than anywhere else in the world? They grow 95 percent of the pumpkins used for processing. Most of that processing takes place in Morton, called the Pumpkin Capital of the World. And most of that pumpkin puree ends up in pumpkin pies.
Those pumpkins grown in Morton aren’t the Halloween jack-o’-lantern pumpkins your kids carve. Both are members of the cucurbita family, which includes squash and cucumbers. But processing pumpkins are a different variety – typically smaller, meatier and sweeter – and more suited to cooking. They are often called sugar pie pumpkins.
A medium-sized (4-pound) sugar pumpkin should yield around 1 ½ cups of mashed pumpkin. The puree can be used in any recipe calling for canned pumpkin. The field pumpkins, bred for perfect jack-o’-lanterns, tend to be too large and stringy for baking, though it isn’t out of the question. Most parts of the pumpkin are edible, including the seeds, leaves, flowers and flesh.
Pumpkin falls into one of the almost perfect foods category. A single cup of cooked pumpkin has a miniscule 83 calories and is packed with 3 grams of protein, 7 grams of fiber, and a whopping 2,650 IU (international units) of vitamin A. When it comes to vitamin A, a cup of pumpkin has more than a cup of cooked carrots.
The bright orange color is a dead giveaway that it is loaded with beta-carotene, a plant carotenoid that is converted to vitamin A. As an antioxidant, it may help prevent against certain kinds of cancer and protect against heart disease.
The next time you put pumpkin together with pumpkin pie, think outside of the pie plate – add a little canned pumpkin into your next protein shake or try it in our pumpkin recipes:
Henrietta’s Pumpkin Bread (note: This recipe calls for a 15-ounce can of pure pumpkin.)
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Pumpkin Pancakes
Nancy’s Best Ever Pumpkin Bars With Cream Cheese Frosting
Christi wrote:
The link to the pumpkin bar receipe does NOT work…it says it can’t find what I’m looking for.
Jessy Yancey wrote:
Christi,
So sorry for the inconvenience. The link has been corrected. Thanks so much for letting us know!
Jessy Yancey
editor, Illinois Partners
Judith Drong wrote:
You might want to put a correction in your magazine, the recipe for Henrietta’s Pumpkin Bread says “1 can pure pumpkin” – please state size of can – I went on this site and found it, but there is a 29 ounce can also.
Thank you,
Judith Ann
Jessy Yancey wrote:
Judith, we are planning to include that in the next issue. Thanks for checking!
Jessy Yancey
editor, ilfbpartners.com
tina melvin wrote:
I keep trying to click on Nancy Best Ever Pumpkin Bars with cream cheese frosting since this recipe was not in the book. Every time I do the screen goes black and the recipe does not come up. Got any ideas on how I can get this recipe
Blair Thomas wrote:
Tina,
When you click on “Nancy’s Best Ever Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting,” you will be redirected to our sister website Farm Flavor to view the recipe. The screen darkens and a box pops up in the center informing you that you are getting ready to leave Illinois Partners’ website to go to Farm Flavor. In that box, you’ll see two buttons to choose from. One says “View Recipe” the other says “Cancel.” You’ll want to choose “View Recipe” and you should see the recipe appear on Farm Flavor. If you have any more questions or problems with this, don’t hesitate to let us know. Hope this helps!
Blair Thomas
Illinois Partners
susan wrote:
Hello,
Is there another place to obtain the recipe for the pumpkin bars. I’m trying to obtain for my 82yr old mother, but the link doesn’t connect.
Thanks much,
Susan
Jessy Yancey wrote:
Hi Susan,
When you click to view the recipe, you have to click “View the Recipe” on the box that appears. This should take you to our sister site, Farm Flavor. Here is the direct link, if that helps: http://farmflavor.com/pumpkin-cream-cheese-bars. Please let me know if that works.
Thanks,
Jessy Yancey
editor, Illinois Partners
Judith drong | Shihtzu4you wrote:
[...] Pumped for Pumpkin Recipes | Illinois Partners | Food, Farm …Sep 20, 2011 … Judith Drong wrote: You might want to put a correction in your magazine, the recipe for Henrietta’s Pumpkin Bread says “1 can pure pumpkin” … [...]