Pumpkin Custard Crumble

I dove into this recipe with good, healthy intentions.  "Oh... I could do a crust-less pumpkin pie... low sugar, low fat, low carbs..."  Totally had the intention of leaving flour out of the topping and going light on the sugar.  Then... then it turned into something evil and decadent and delicious.  Still went lighter on the sugar than most pumpkin pie recipes would call for but... I crunched the numbers (because I have a sick love of spreadsheets) and they weren't pretty.  Per slice:  230 calories; 8 grams of fat; 31 net carbs; 6g of protein.  Still, healthier for you than a Snickers bar, and better tasting!  Not exactly diet-dessert, but probably a little better for you than most.  I got a ton of sugar pumpkins from a friend, so I made my own puree.  Can't speak for the outcome if you use canned... but I'm sure it'd be fine.

Since Halloween is in less than a week, I've really been getting into the spirit.  We hit up the pumpkin patch today because I love carving jack-o-lanterns.  And I did a last practice run on my Dia de los Muertos calavera (sugar skull) makeup!  So I felt like a song in the graveyard spirit might be in order.  Koffin Kats doing "Graveyard Tree".  -jen

PUMPKIN CUSTARD CRUMBLE  
Prep:  15 minutes
Cook Time:  55-60 minutes

Preparing to roast sugar pie pumpkins.

Difficulty:  Easy
Makes:  12 servings

Topping:

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts of choice (almonds, pecans, walnuts, etc)

Filling:

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon dried, ground ginger 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground clove
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 3 cups fresh pumpkin puree (or 24oz canned puree)
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 can (12oz) evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Generously coat a 2-quart baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

In a food processor, combine all of the topping ingredients and pulse.  If you don't have a food processor, cut the butter into the flour, then add the remaining ingredients.  Set aside.

In a bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, clove, baking powder and salt.  In a separate bowl using an electric mixer, beat together pumpkin, brown sugar and eggs.  Add evaporated milk until blended.  Add dry ingredients just until combined. 

Pour batter into prepared baking dish.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.  Carefully remove from oven and use a spoon to sprinkle the topping over the top to your desired thickness.  (You can use the back of the spoon to gently pat it into the filling if it looks like it's just resting on a skin.)  Bake an additional 20-25 minutes.  Crust should be golden-brown and a knife inserted into the center should come out clean.  Let cool on a wire cooling rack for an hour.  Refrigerate for storage.

Banana Cream Pie Bars

Was just sitting around on this 4th of July, watching bad tv, pondering what we had in the kitchen.  Came across the four bananas that were getting close to being too ripe.  Thought about just doing some banana bread or banana muffins, but that seemed more "bready" than I felt like.  Last week, I'd found some pumpkin in the freezer from last fall when we'd roasted and pureed a few pumpkins.  I made a great, hearty crust with oats and nuts, so I figured... why not make some banana cream pie bars using the same crust?  I've never made banana cream pie before, though strangely, that's kind of how I met Justin - it was a topic of conversation.  Then when I was grabbing the vanilla extract, I caught the chocolate chips out of the corner of my eye and decided they'd go into it, too.

Been listening to music all day today.  Lots of Lagwagon, Strung Out, Swingin' Utters.  It was kind of hard to choose a song.  But one album I pulled out today was NOFX's "Punk In Drublic".  Total flashback to my angst filled freshman year in high school.  I remember specifically playing this cassette tape over and over on my boombox while playing Super Nintendo with my little brother.  So I chose "Leave It Alone."   -jen

BANANA CREAM PIE BARS
Time:  30 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy/Medium (it seemed easy to me)
Makes:  12 bars

Crust

• 3/4 cup old fashioned oats
• 2/3 cup flour
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 6 tablespoons butter (3/4 of a stick), softened
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts of choice (walnuts, pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, etc) 
• 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Custard

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup corn starch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup water, room temp
• 3 large egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4-5 large, ripe bananas, sliced thin

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine oats, flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and butter.  Beat until butter is cut into flour and crumbly.  Stir in nuts and chocolate chips.  Prepare a 13"x 9" (2 qt) baking dish by buttering or coating it with non-stick cooking spray.  Press mixture into the baking dish evenly, coming slightly up the sides (make sure to even out the corners so they're not real thick).  Bake crust at 375 degrees F for 17-20 minutes (until crust is golden brown).  Remove and set on a cooling rack.

While crust is baking, prepare custard by combining sugar, corn starch and salt in a medium sauce pan.  Whisk in cream and water.  Then whisk in egg yolks.  Cook over medium-high heat, continuing to whisk until sauce thickens and boils (about 6 minutes).  Remove from heat and then whisk in butter and vanilla.

Cover the cooled crust with a layer (2 to 2.5) of sliced bananas.  Scoop half of the custard evenly over the layered bananas, and carefully spread across them as evenly as possible.  Repeat a second layer of sliced bananas and custard.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour before serving.

Banana Nut Granola

I had this craving for banana granola the other day and wasn't even sure if such a thing existed!  Well it does now!  Came out real tasty, not super sweet (we don't dig super sweet granola).  So much cheaper to make your own than to buy it, even when you can get it in the bulk bins, it's not this cheap.  I got all the oats, nuts, seeds and pumpkin chips out of the bulk bins at my local store and spent about $5 for the whole thing - it filled 3.5 quart-sized Mason jars.  Bueno!

The thing I like about making your own granola is that you can put whatever you want in it, really.  Whatever nuts you like.  Whatever seeds you like.  It's a good way to experiment with stuff you haven't tried before.  Coconut, puffed rice, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, etc.

We've used the Bouncing Souls a few times with our recipes, but I've been listening to a lot of their later albums the last few days and it's just what's in my head.  So I'm using them again.  "Gasoline".  -jen

BANANA NUT GRANOLA
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time:  30-40 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes:  about 10 cups

• 6 cups old fashioned oats
  
• 1 cup banana chips
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 2/3 cup sliced almonds
• 2/3 cup chopped cashews
• 2/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)
• 1/2 cup flax seed
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 very ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup real maple syrup (or honey)
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted (or canola oil)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• parchment paper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Place banana chips in a quart size Ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to smack the bag and break them up a little.

In a large bowl, combine oats, broken banana chips, coconut, almonds, cashews, pecans, pepitas, flax seed, salt and cinnamon.  Stir to combine.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine bananas, brown sugar, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla and sesame oil. Using a stick blender, puree mixture.  (If you don't have a stick blender, you can use a food processor, a stand mixer or a hand mixer.)

Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir until completely coated.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Spread half of the oat mix onto each pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, stirring the granola every 10 minutes.  Granola should be golden brown.  Keep an eye on it, it can start burning quickly towards the end.

Let granola cool and store in an airtight container.

Uses:  mix with yogurt, eat with milk or almond milk like cereal, put in cookies, stir into your waffle or pancake batter, sprinkle on ice cream.

Choner Bars

You might be wondering what the hell a Choner Bar is, besides an incredibly delicious, chewy dessert.  Well, it's my understanding that stoners get the munchies.  And I've been told that when stoners get the munchies, they don't want to drive anywhere, so they start digging through their cupboards, making outrageous concoctions with what they have on hand!   So a hypothetical stoner might hypothetically have all these ingredients in the pantry and make a hypothetical chewy stoner bar out of them.  But we wouldn't want to title our bars Chewy Stoner Bars!  That could come with some negative implications, and it's hypothetical, after all... so we shortened it to Choner Bars.  Who are we to pretend like we know the culinary cravings of stoners just because we live in Humboldt County?!  Please... as if!

I chose The Clash's "Rock the Casbah" simply because someone was talking about Adam Ant today, and I was explaining my first crushes... which included Joe Strummer, specifically from this video.  So it was just rollin' through my head today.  -jen

CHONER BARS
Prep Time: 10 minutes, Bake Time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Makes: 12 huge ass bars 

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 10 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon  
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1 cup old fashioned oats (or rolled oats)
• 1 cup chopped nuts of choice (I used 1/2 Hazel nut, 1/2 roasted peanuts)
• 2/3 cup dark chocolate chips
• 2/3 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Generously coat a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

Combine brown sugar, granulated sugar and softened butter in a mixing bowl and beat with a mixer until creamed together.  Add vanilla, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; mix in.  While continuing to mix, add eggs, one at a time.  Then slowly beat in the 2 cups of flour.  Fold in coconut, oats, nuts, chocolate chips and raisins.

Press dough evenly into prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Allow to cool before cutting and serving.