Can’t get enough pumpkin? Neither can we!

This time of year, it seems pumpkin is in every food, recipe, and menu. It’s in lattes, baked goods, and snack mixes.

And, as long as it’s from real food, and not a chemical flavoring, the more the better.

Pumpkins offer a variety of great nutrients and health benefits. We’re here to help you get even more.

Here are five delicious Keto Zone Pumpkin Recipes and five reasons to keep adding pumpkin!

5 Quick & Easy Keto Zone Pumpkin Recipes

1. Keto Zone Cashew Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients:

• ½ cup cashew butter or walnut butter (you can easily make cashew butter by processing cashews in a food processor)
• 1 scoop MCT Oil Powder (Pumpkin Spice)
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup granular erythritol
• 1 large egg
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Antioxidant Powerhouse Pumpkin Spice (see recipe below)
• ½ cup cacao nibs

Instructions:

1. Mix cashew butter or walnut butter, organic pumpkin puree, vanilla, erythritol, and egg in medium bowl.
2. Add salt, pumpkin spice, and cacao nibs. Mix well.
3. Place in refrigerator for 30 minutes, and preheat oven to 350°F.
4. Remove dough from refrigerator, spoon 12 spoonfuls onto cookie sheet (or parchment paper on the sheet).
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
6. Allow to cool and enjoy! Yields 12 cookies.

Nutrition information per serving: 103 calories, 6 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams net carbohydrates, 8 grams fat, 3 grams protein, 2 grams fiber, 3 grams saturated fat.

 

2. Keto Zone High Protein Pumpkin Chia Pudding

Ingredients:

• ½ cup unsweetened almond milk
• ¼ cup full-fat coconut milk (from a can)
• 1 tablespoon organic pumpkin puree
• ½ teaspoon pumpkin spice
• 3 tablespoons chia seeds, like Living Living Chia with Probiotics
• 1 scoop MCT Oil Powder (Pumpkin Spice)

Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients together
2. Place in refrigerator 4 hours or until firm.
3. Enjoy! Yields 1 serving.

Nutrition information per serving: 377 calories, 22 grams carbohydrates, 6 grams net carbs, 31 grams fat, 10 grams protein, 16 grams fiber, 10 grams saturated fat.

 

3. Keto Zone Salted Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients

• 2 cups pumpkin seeds from whole pumpkin
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil

Instructions

1. Remove seeds from a pumpkin, yielding approximately 2 cups.
2. Boil in salted water for 10 minutes, and then spread on paper towels to dry thoroughly.
3. Melt 2 tablespoons organic coconut oil.
4. Place dried seeds in a bowl, add oil and stir well.
5. Roast at 300°F (about 75°C) for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Yields 8 Servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 254 calories, 4 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams net carbs, 24 grams fat, 12 grams protein, 2 grams fiber, 7 grams saturated fat.

 

4. Keto Zone Velvety Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

• Whole pumpkin (~2.5 pounds)
• 1 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup water
• 1 scoop Hydrolyzed Collagen + Probiotics (Unflavored)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup cream

Instructions

1. Chop ~2.5-lb baking pumpkin in half.
2. Cutaway outer peel and remove seeds, like you would any winter squash.
3. Chop remaining flesh of pumpkin into slices, and then chop down to 2-inch chunks.
4. Place 2 cups pumpkin chunks, chopped onion, garlic cloves, vegetable broth, water, Hydrolyzed Collagen, and salt/pepper (to taste) in a saucepan.
5. Bring to a boil, and then allow to simmer until pumpkin is tender.
6. Pour ingredients into a blender, only filling 1/2 cup at a time, and blend until smooth.
7. Add 1/2 cup cream and serve.  Yields 4 Servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 140 calories, 9 grams carbohydrates, 7 grams net carbs, 10 grams fat, 4 grams protein, 2 grams fiber, 7 grams saturated fat.

 

5. Antioxidant Powerhouse Pumpkin Spice

As a basic rule of thumb, the more homemade, the better for you. This year, make your own Pumpkin Spice.

Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg

Instructions

1. Simply mix ground cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg.
2. Add to recipes, teas, coffees, and more!

 

5 Reasons to Add More Pumpkin Recipes

There are many amazing real-food ingredients in all of these pumpkin recipes. Cashews, spices, and chia, for example, provide antioxidants, minerals, phytochemicals, and more.

But the real star of these recipes, the real star of autumn, is the pumpkin.

And for good reason.

Pumpkin flesh and seeds offer a lot of nutrition (1). They provide:

Antioxidants: Alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein, and zeaxanthin.  These antioxidants will work together to fight free radicals, reduce the risk of cancer, promote heart health, reduce cholesterol plague formations, and preserve eye health (2).

Anti-inflammatory Nutrients: Pumpkin cell walls contain pectin. This pectin contains nutrients that are anti-inflammatory, like fiber.  As you know, a high anti-inflammatory diet can reduce the risk of chronic disease including reduced arthritis, diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

Anti-Cancer Nutrition: Specifically, the oil in pumpkins can reduce the risk of prostate cancer and improve prostate health due to its significant amount of zinc (3).

Heart-Health Components: Beyond anti-inflammatories, pumpkin seeds contain phytosterols which can reduce “bad” cholesterol in the body (4).

Additionally, pumpkin’s fiber, monounsaturated fats, omega-3s, B-vitamins, and copper are great for everyday health and energy.

 

Bottom Line

If you can’t get enough pumpkin recipes, go ahead and get carried away with it this year.

Your taste buds and your body will thank you!