For those of you who have read my cooking and baking blog entries before, you know that I don’t like to do anything the regular way. I like to shake things up and my seasonal baking escapades were no different! I chose pumpkin as my flavor of choice and whole grains as the name of the so-called baking game.

 

Before I really dive in, let me preface with the slightly embarrassing admission that I am also a complete Halloween fanatic. This little love of mine tends to shape (literally) my early holiday baking. I set out on a mission to bake whole grain treats that could be shaped, cut, twisted and any way otherwise contorted into mischievous ghoulies and goblins which is, of course, how I came to my first recipe: rice crispie treats. 

 

I found a fantastic recipe for pumpkin rice crispie treats. I’ve never had flavored crispies before but I thought, hey, I love pumpkin, I love rice crispie treats, why not? While the recipe called for regular crispies, I opted for a whole grain option: brown rice crispie treats. They are just as snap, crackle and pop as the original and add that extra punch of whole grain goodness that we love so much around here! A little tip: make sure that deliciously golden and fragrant marshmallow pumpkin mix has cooled before you mix it with the cereal.

 

With a beautiful bowl of pumpkin left, I opted for soft pumpkin cookies. While most people expect pumpkin bread or muffins this time of year, I went for a more untraditional twist, molding whole wheat flour, earthy pumpkin and a handful of other ingredients into some of the softest, moistest, most delicious cake-like cookies in history! While I often hear concerns that whole wheat flour can make cookies dry or crumbly, I can tell you (and so can the rest of my hungry and very willing taste testers here in the office!) first hand that this is not the case. 

 

Are you hungry yet? Well get in there, turn on that oven and grab some whole grains! (Mallory)