Happy Fall TWNer’s! I hope everyone is having a restful week and able to relax some before we ramp up for finals. As Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, our minds tend to turn to one thing--food. Here I’m going to share some of my favorite Thanksgiving desserts and some fun Thanksgiving treats that are just as fun to look at as to eat.
The first dessert is the classic Pumpkin Pie. While Pumpkin Pie can be a hassle to make, this easy recipe gives the same great taste and holiday cheer as any other homemade Pumpkin Pie. To start, you have the option of baking the store bought (or homemade) crust to get a crispier, flakier crust (Bake at 400 for 15-25min). If you don’t bake the crust, then you’ll have a soggier pie, which is also a popular preference. Once your crust is cooked to your taste, it’s time to start on the filling. In a medium bowl, whisk together:
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
Once this is whisked together, set it aside. In a large saucepan, combine:
1 15-ounce can of pumpkin puree
1 cup of drained candied yams
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup pure maple syrup
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon finely ground sea salt.
Mix these together in the saucepan and simmer over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes. Continue to simmer this mixture, stirring constantly until the mixture is thick and shiny (this may take 10 to 15 minutes). Once done, remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the cream mixture. Pour into the pie crust and place in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees Farenheight. Then, after 10 minutes, reduce heat to 300 degrees Farenheight and bake 20 to 35 minutes longer (the sides of the pie should be set and the center should jiggle but look firm). Take the pie out of the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for 2 to 3 hours. Once the pie is done cooling, then it’s ready to serve and eat with friends and family! The pie tastes great when you top it with whipped cream!
Now pumpkin pie is fun to eat, but something that’s fun to look at as well as eat is chocolate covered turkey pretzel sticks. To start you lay out 12 chocolate covered cookies (I recommend Grasshopper cookies from Keebler) on wax paper. Then, set a pretzel rod next to each cookie. In a microwavable bowl, heat 1/2 cup Chocolate Melting Chips or Bark by microwaving for 30 seconds stirring and repeating until melted. Allow the chocolate to cool for 1-2 minutes. Then, dip the pretzels 2/3 of the way into the melted chocolate and roll to coat completely. Lay the chocolate covered pretzels on top of the cookies. Then take 7 candy corns per rod and place them in a fan shape around the cookie, sticking them on with the chocolate. Use the chocolate to also glue on two candy eyes to the pretzel rod and to glue on a Reese’s Pieces nose. Place this in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to let the candy set. While the pretzel rods are in the fridge, in another microwave bowl, heat 1/8 cup red Candy Melting Chips in the microwave for 45 seconds. Using a spoon, stir the chocolate and then scoop it into a plastic bag. Once the chocolate is in the bag, push it to the corner and knead the chocolate to make sure that it stays liquid. Then clip the corner of the bag with scissors and pull the pretzel rods out of the fridge. Use the liquid chocolate in the bag to draw a red wattle under the turkey’s nose. Then place pretzel rods back in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.
Source: https://hugsandcookiesxoxo.com/turkey-pretzels-2/
My all time favorite Thanksgiving dessert though is apple crumble. To make this, first preheat your oven to 350 degrees Farenheight. While the oven preheats, you can prepare the apples. First, half fill a saucepan with water, and peel, core, and chop 3-4 Bramley cooking apples into 1-2cm chunks. Then place the apples into the saucepan to stop them from ruining. Drain all of the water from the saucepan and add another 2 tablespoons of water and ¼ cup granulated sugar to the saucepan with the apples. Put this over medium heat and stir this until the apples soften. Once the apples are softened, then put them into an ovenproof dish for baking. In a separate mixing bowl, add
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 cup of all purpose flour
5 ½ tablespoons of butter.
Mix this together until it resembles large breadcrumbs. Then pour this onto the apples. Put the dish in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. This dessert is great to eat hot and my personal favorite is adding ice cream to it when it’s fresh out of the oven.
I hope that you found these desserts helpful if you’re looking for something to make this fall season. These desserts are great to share with family and friends over Thanksgiving or over the holiday’s in general. I hope that everyone has a relaxing Thanksgiving with lots of good food!
Written by:
Kara Lehner
Kara is the Communications Associate in The Women’s Network. She is a sophomore and is a part of the Communications Committee. Kara is also a member of Run Club, Net Impact, and CLD at IU. In her free time she loves to run, bike, hike, kayak and read.