Baked Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Fruit Bites with Ginger Glaze

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received a coupon for any free product in Nature’s Pride line of buns and bread. For the purposes of this contest I selected Nature’s Pride Honey Wheat Bread to make my recipe.

Six new Bread Ambassadors will have the opportunity to showcase unique recipes using Nature’s Pride breads at the Foodbuzz Taste Pavilion, and as a thank you for their participation, Nature’s Pride will cover their accommodation and airfare costs!

It’s that time of year again, where I anxiously await for the arrival of canned pumpkin to begin appearing on the store shelves. It just so happened I was waiting for the right inspiration to hit for the Nature’s Pride contest, and this was it! This recipe took two attempts to nail the right mix of flavors in the right combinations.

 

Tasting, tasting, tasting

Baking is one of those things it’s really hard to know how something is going to turn out half way through. There is no correcting for too little salt or sugar when the pastry is cooling. I really tried to make my own cinnamon/sugar/spice/nut filling, but I was way too heavy handed with the cinnamon. (I thought the pumpkin would mellow out the filling once it baked.) I didn’t really taste the pumpkin batter either since it had eggs in it (which I corrected the second go around by tasting the pumpkin mixture before adding the eggs.) When I was done with the first batch, the cinnamon was too strong and pumpkin way too weak. Back to the drawing board.

Then I had an idea, BAGELS! My favorite bagel combination is a cinnamon raisin bagel with honey nut cream cheese. I thought why not take those flavors and adapt it to my pumpkin rolls? I was feeling adventurous and grabbed some dried goji berries for added taste and color. By the way, I would definitely take this cream cheese filling and put it on my next bagel, just saying if you need a fancy cream cheese spread!

Shortcut to tastiness

I took a shortcut in preparing the final product, but I felt in the spirit of fulfilling my vision it was a compromise I was happy with. I chose to use pre-made Honey Nut cream cheese to pair with the Nature’s Pride Honey Wheat bread. I think this will also make this recipe a bit more attractive to those in a time/kitchen crunch. The filling itself is really versatile (try craisins, golden raisins, chopped nuts, goji, dried apricot – the choice is yours with whatever you and your family likes), plus the leftover cream cheese tasted GREAT in blintzes the following day!

The rest of the recipe is a breeze and a great fall treat, not only for dessert but I can easily see this a great addition to a fall brunch!

Baked Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Fruit Roll with Ginger Glaze

Yields: 16 portions

Kitchen items

  • 24 count mini-muffin pan (or try arranging tightly in a pie/small casserole dish)
  • Non-stick cooking spray
  • 16 Pecan Halves

Bread and Cream Cheese Filling

  • 4 oz Honey Nut cream cheese (room temperature, half of 8oz container)
  • 3 Tbs Raisins or mixture of 2 raisins and 1 chopped goji berry
  • 4 slices Nature’s Pride Honey Wheat Bread

Pumpkin Batter

  • ½ cup Canned pumpkin puree
  • 1/8 tsp Allspice
  • ¼ tsp Ground ginger
  • ¼ tsp Nutmeg
  • ½ tsp Cinnamon
  • Salt – pinch
  • 1 tsp Brown sugar, packed
  • 1 tsp Vanilla extract
  • 6 Tbs Milk
  • 2 Eggs

Ginger Glaze

  • ¼ c Powdered sugar
  • ¼ tsp Ground ginger
  • 2 ½ tsp Milk

Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
  2. Prepare filling
    • Mix together 4oz (half of container) of honey nut cream cheese with 3 tablespoons of raisins/goji berries. (Suggested 2 Tbs raisins + 1 Tbs chopped goji berries.
    • If goji unavailable use other dried fruit/nut: craisins, dried apricot, other raisin type, chopped nuts
  3. Prepare batter
    • In a bowl mix together: pumpkin, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, salt, cinnamon and brown sugar.
    • To the pumpkin mixture: add 2 eggs and 6 tablespoons milk.
    • Mix everything together until smooth.
  4. Prepare bread/rolls
    • Cut the crust from 4 slices of bread.
    • Divide and spread the cream cheese filling evenly among the slices of bread (approx 2Tbs of filling).
    • With the long side of the bread facing you, tightly roll the bread and filling away from you (or toward if easier)
    • Gently press down on the roll to help it stick together.
    • With a sharp knife, gently cut each roll into 4 portions
  5. Prepare for baking
    • Generously spray 16 cups of a mini-muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.
    • Use one hand to gently drop bread roll into batter, and use other hand to cover all sides with the pumpkin batter. The roll shouldn’t fall apart, but hold the roll together as you dip/move in the batter.
    • Remove roll from batter and place cut end up in muffin cup. Push down slightly. The rolls will expand some in the muffin cups.
  6. With the remaining batter, spoon an additional teaspoon over each of the rolls.
    • Optional: Place a pecan/nut on top of each of the rolls
  7. Bake for 15-17 minutes in oven.
  8. Allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes before removing.

Ginger Glaze

  1. Mix together until dissolved: ¼ powdered sugar, ¼ teaspoon ground ginger and 2 ½ tsp of milk
  2. Spoon a small amount over each baked roll
  3. Serve and enjoy!

The best part of this recipe is, the rolls taste great even a few days later. I put a little bit of glaze on the leftovers to keep on the fridge. When we were ready to eat, I just warmed in the microwave for about 15 seconds. Perfect!

Step by Step Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Prepare filling

  • Mix together 4oz (half of container) of honey nut cream cheese with 3 tablespoons of raisins/goji berries. (Suggested 2 Tbs raisins + 1 Tbs chopped goji berries.
  • If goji unavailable use other dried fruit/nut: craisins, dried apricot, other raisin type, chopped nuts

Prepare batter

  • In a bowl mix together: pumpkin, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, salt, cinnamon and brown sugar.
  • To the pumpkin mixture: add 2 eggs and 6 tablespoons milk.
  • Mix everything together until smooth.

Prepare bread/rolls

  • Cut the crust from 4 slices of bread.
  • Divide and spread the cream cheese filling evenly among the slices of bread (approx 2Tbs of filling).
  • With the long side of the bread facing you, tightly roll the bread and filling away from you (or toward if easier)
  • Gently press down on the roll to help it stick together.
  • With a sharp knife, gently cut each roll into 4 portions

Prepare for baking

  • Generously spray 16 cups of a mini-muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.
  • Use one hand to gently drop bread roll into batter, and use other hand to cover all sides with the pumpkin batter. The roll shouldn’t fall apart, but hold the roll together as you dip/move in the batter.
  • Remove roll from batter and place cut end up in muffin cup. Push down slightly. The rolls will expand some in the muffin cups.
  • With the remaining batter, spoon an additional teaspoon over each of the rolls.
    • Optional: Place a pecan/nut on top of each of the rolls

Bake for 15-17 minutes in oven.
Allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes before removing. (Shown with and without nut garnish and glaze)

Ginger Glaze

  1. Mix together until dissolved: ¼ powdered sugar, ¼ teaspoon ground ginger and 2 ½ tsp of milk
  2. Spoon a small amount over each baked roll
  3. Serve and enjoy!

https://i0.wp.com/www.thesugarpixie.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/pumpkin_cheese_fruit_15.jpg?fit=500%2C752&ssl=1https://i0.wp.com/www.thesugarpixie.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/pumpkin_cheese_fruit_15.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1thesugarpixieContestRecipesbrunch,dessert,foodbuzz,goji,nut,pumpkin,tastemaker programAs part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received a coupon for any free product in Nature's Pride line of buns and bread. For the purposes of this contest I selected Nature's Pride Honey Wheat Bread to make my recipe. Six new Bread Ambassadors will have the opportunity to showcase...Misadventures and fun in the kitchen and beyond