Fall means it's time for pumpkin!

So I know most of you are probably thinking "bla bla bla, enough with the philosophy and organic brainwashing, where's the food?"... and I totally understand, so here I go shaking off my foodie laziness to blog about food again. It's fall so that means it's time to experiment with yummy pumpkins and squash again! There's something that really excites me about this particular change of season.

One thing I've realized about raw 'cooking' is that you really don't have to pay attention to measurement as much as much as when you are doing something as chemically complex as baking. If you have a problem with a raw recipe you can always tweak it a bit and there is only so wrong you can go. Given my first post, it would seem raw food is perfectly suited to the way I cook anyway! Here's my latest creation and it's unfortunately not 100% raw. I still haven't fully figured out how to manage using squash/pumpkins without steaming them first (and it's fall so I can't go without my pumpkins!). Measurements were not really paid attention to as usual...

Almost-Raw Pumpkin Spice cupcakes

1 cup of ground nuts (I used pecans & almonds)
pumpkin spices to taste (cinnamon, allspice, n

utmeg, cloves, ginger)
sea salt to taste
dried fruit (I used hunza raisins, thomson raisins, and cranberries)
about 1 C of kabocha puree (or any sweet squash/pumpkin)
3-4 tbsp maple syrup
crumbled raw chocolate (optional)

Mix everything but dried fruit and chocolate chips until smooth like a thick batter. Fold in fruits and chocolate. Mix everything! Spoon into cupcake liners. Place in dehydrator for 14-18 hours at 115.

Makes about 10 small cupcakes.

I topped them with candied nuts loosely based on this recipe. Next time, I think I'll crumble the nuts before coating them because they just fell off the cupcakes. I'll also soak the nuts first for nutritional value but I was lazy this time. There you go! Enjoy!