Pumpkin Flour

This is a special treat for our house. I don't have a food dehydrator so I have to use my oven, and let me tell you, it takes quite a bit of time. But the way I think of it is, pumpkins are special and are only around for a few months each year so I don't mind spending the couple days it takes to dry my pumpkin! Pumpkin flour  is a great way to use up your jack-o-lanterns (that is, if they haven't gone bad yet), and a nice healthy alternative to regular flour for your Holiday treats ~ rich in minerals and vitamins said to help with kidney and heart ailments as well as Diabetes. Just substitute about 1/4-1/2 of regular flour with your pumpkin flour!

Ingredients

All you need is 1 or more pumpkins!

     

      1.      Just like carving a jack-o-lantern, cut off the top of the pumpkin, and clean out the seeds and stringy parts from the inside. (Keep the seeds, you can roast them later!)

2.      This part is a bit tedious, but well worth it! Using a good knife, cut your pumpkin into strips. I like to cut it in half first, then work with the halves and cut them into strips.

  

      3.      You now want to remove the rind. You can use a vegetable peeler if you like, but I find it easier to just cut it off with my knife.

4.      Chop the strips into thin pieces, about ¼ of an inch thick.

      5.      If you have a food dehydrator, now is the time to use it! If you don’t,  just use your oven on the lowest setting, or around 130-140 degrees F. (This can take quite a bit of time, but it is well worth it as pumpkin flour is a healthier choice to regular flour) Place the pieces onto a cookie sheet ( I like to use parchment paper as well) and place into the oven. Leave the oven open a crack to let the moisture out. Dry until you can snap the pieces in half.

6.      Place the pumpkin chips into a food processor. Grind the pieces until powdery. If you do not have a food processor, you can use a blender. You may not be able to get the pumpkin to the powdery consistency with just the blender. In this case, transfer the ground up pieces to a coffee grinder, and finish it there.

7.      When cooking or baking, substitute ¼- ½ of the regular flour with pumpkin flour.