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Blue Ribbon Recipes That’ll Have You Thankful for Pumpkin Season

Baked Pumpkin Pie French Toast

You know what’s right around the corner… pumpkin season! It’s that time of the year again when everywhere you look there is something pumpkin. Every year I get on the bandwagon and consume so many pumpkin recipes. Seriously, from breakfast to lunch, snack time to dinner, you can create a menu poppin’ with pumpkin flavor.

“Just made this Perfect Pumpkin Butter on the last day of summer to get us into the fall mood,” explains Lorah Hodges (Corpus Christi, TX). “Awesome on bread, toast, bagels, and so much more.”

The smell of this cooking on the stove definitely will put you into a fall mood. It’s sweet, full of fall flavors and super easy to prepare. If you love the texture of apple butter, you’ll like this pumpkin version. Add a dollop to your morning toast or bagel and enjoy.

I love the simple method of making Ginny Axman’s (Olmitz, KS) Baked Pumpkin Pie French Toast. “This is a great make-ahead breakfast that you could take with you,” shares Ginny. “The syrup is optional since it already is kinda sweet. It makes a large batch and reheats well.”

Baking the french toast in the oven does slightly alter the texture than when making it in the skillet and crisps the outside of the bread. The flavor of the pumpkin is perfect – slightly sweet with just the right amount of spice. This recipe couldn’t be any easier to prepare.

Crystal Rogers (Mendocino, CA) shared her recipe for Creamy Roasted Pumpkin Soup that would be a lovely fall lunch.

“I have been making a version of this fall soup for years,” says Crystal. “I also served it in small individual hollowed-out pumpkins.”

No canned pumpkin in this recipe. Crystal roasts fresh pumpkin for the base of her soup. Spices like curry powder, thyme, and nutmeg add a ton of flavor. She suggests using vegetable stock which makes this a delicious vegetarian soup.

On a cool fall afternoon, what’s better than snacking on warm chocolate chip cookies out of the oven? How about ones that add pumpkin to them like Julie Knauf (Escanaba, MI) does in her Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Cookies.

“These were handed down from my grandmother to my mother and then, to me,” reveals Julie. “I make them every autumn and while my kids would prefer something from the candy jar, these remain a yummy cookie for the grown-ups.” This cookie has all the great tastes of fall in one cookie.

Want a unique meatloaf for dinner? Look no further than Mikekey’s Turkey Pumpkin Meatloaf.

Mikekey was going to make his usual turkey meatloaf recipe and what he thought was tomato sauce was something else. He had part of a can of cooked pumpkin leftover so figured he’d substitute that for the sauce.

The result? A delicious dinner. The pumpkin flavor is subtle but makes this meatloaf super moist. This recipe is so easy to make and your family will love it.

“These Pumpkin Spice Filled Cupcakes are light and refreshing,” thinks Patricia Kutchins (Lake Zurich, IL). “Perfect for a crisp autumn day.”

I think so too. The pumpkin flavor is spot on in these treats. Sweetened pecans add a little bit of crunch. The filling inside these spice cupcakes is light and fluffy! A delicious pumpkin dessert.

If you can’t get enough of pumpkin for the next few months and still want more pumpkin recipes, check out our Pumpkin Patch collection. So many ideas. Happy Pinching!