January 2021 … If you’d like to make a special treat to enjoy with kids or others, you might want to think about pumpkin, even in the midst of winter.
Amy Deahl-Greenlaw, a registered dietitian nutritionist with Healthy NewsWorks, suggests pumpkin bread or muffins and pumpkin yogurt dip as two crowd-pleasers for young palates.
“You can enjoy these treats anytime of year because canned pumpkin is available year-round,” she says. “While fall is when we often think about pumpkins and pumpkin-flavored food and beverages, you can make these healthy treats in winter, spring, summer, or fall.”
Pumpkin Bread or Muffins
What You’ll Need
1½ cups of all-purpose white flour
1 cup of whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons of baking soda
12-15 ounces of a 15-ounce can of pumpkin*
½ cup of vegetable oil
½ cup of unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
(Optional:) ½ cup of raisins and/or chopped walnuts
*You can either use a whole 15-ounce can of pumpkin or use about 12-13 ounces and save the other 2-3 ounces for the pumpkin yogurt dip below.
Let’s Cook!
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the remaining ingredients to dry ingredients. Beat well with a hand mixer.
- Pour into a greased loaf pan or mini-muffin pans. Bake loaf 60-75 minutes. Bake mini-muffins about 12 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the center.
(Makes one loaf or about 50 mini-muffins)
Pumpkin Yogurt Dip
What You’ll Need
• 1 cup of low-fat vanilla yogurt
• 2 tablespoons of 100% orange juice
• ¼ cup of canned pumpkin
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 apple
Let’s Cook!
- Mix together yogurt, juice, pumpkin, and cinnamon.
- Cut apple into 8 slices.
- Dip apples into yogurt pumpkin dip.
Serves 4
Source: Healthy Snacks and Quick Bites: A Recipe Book for Kids
