Yankee Ingredients – Pumpkin Puffs

Until I met my husband, I thought that everyone liked pumpkin. There is nothing like a big piece of pumpkin pie smothered with homemade whipped cream after a 1000 calorie feast on Thanksgiving, haha. No really, though. Pumpkin pie always has and always will round out my meal on the fourth Thursday in November… it’s just not right if it doesn’t.

When The Hungry Southerner asked me to whip up something involving pumpkin, I immediately wanted to show off my new, but not perfected, recipe for Pumpkin Raviolis. The Hungry Southerner said I had to think of something else though. I ransacked my cabinets to see what I had to work with: 1 puff pastry roll, half a block of Neufchatel cream cheese, 1 egg, brown sugar, salt, pumpkin pie spice, butter, and 1 can of Libby’s Pumpkin Pie Mix. After doing some research online for puff pastry + pumpkin pie, I decided I’d just mix up what I had, drop it onto a puff pastry square lining in a muffin tin, brush with butter, and bake.

My pumpkin puffs turned out pretty tasty. Granted I was the only one to take a nibble (for now atleast, I am taking the extras to school with me), I thought that if I sprinkled the puff pastry with sugar before I lined the muffin cups, they’d be a bit more tasty. The combination of the cream cheese and pumpkin was a nice treat – I think they are a great combo. I wish I’d added a tablespoon of honey to the pumpkin mix to make it a bit sweeter. These treats are bigger than your mouth, so use a fork, or take a bite over a small plate so as not to make a mess (like I did all over the kitchen floor). Also, maybe top them with some homemade whipped cream – I bet it will taste just like pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin Puffs

• 1 can pumpkin pie mix
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 palmful pumpkin pie spice
• ¼ c Brown sugar
• 1/8 c white sugar
• ½ block Neufchatel cream cheese (softened)
• 1 puff pastry roll (thawed)
• Muffin tin
• Non-stick cooking spray
• 3 tablespoons Butter (melted)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Mix first 7 ingredients in a bowl.  Roll out puff pastry and cut into squares (I did the length of my pointer finger all around).  Spray a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Lay squares flat in muffin cups.  Use a teaspoon to spoon in pumpkin mix. Fold up the sides of the squares. Brush with melted butter. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until puffy and golden.  Sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice and white sugar while still hot.