Fall is officially here! It’s time for cooler weather, changing leaves and pumpkin spice. It seems like pumpkin spice came out very early this year. Everywhere you turn, you see pumpkin spice products, from drinks to candles, even Saucony shoes. I was shocked the other day to see pumpkin spice dish soap. Who wants their dishes smelling like pumpkin pie? Or even worse, Pumpkin Spice Spam! Not even kidding. I can’t make this stuff up!
Ever since the introduction of the Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL) in 2003, people all over the world have been eating or drinking pumpkin everything. Or have they? If you look at the ingredient labels of many pumpkin spice products, you’ll notice that most don’t contain any pumpkin at all, so it makes sense that these products are called “pumpkin spice” and not “pumpkin”. Starbucks didn’t even add actual pumpkin to their Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe until 2015.
Pumpkin, a type of squash, is such a highly nutrient-dense fruit, so why leave it out of recipes? Pumpkin is loaded with fiber, which keeps blood sugar levels in check and is slow to digest, which makes you feel full longer. It also contains an overabundance of Vitamin A, which is good for your immune system, and potassium, which is good for heart health. As a bonus, pumpkin is very low in calories, unlike those pumpkin spice drinks! 😮
In the Oatball kitchen, we proudly use whole, natural ingredients in every recipe and our pumpkin oatballs are no different. We combine organic dates with oats, organic pumpkin, organic maple syrup, a homemade pumpkin spice blend, and pecans to create a delicious and nutritious ball of goodness.
We spend countless hours creating and tweaking recipes. This particular recipe was one of the hardest to perfect. Being date-based, we made sure the texture wasn’t too sticky or gummy like other energy bars and not too wet so that it maintains its shape. We also focused on flavor. Choosing dates over peanut butter as our binder was key for this recipe. I don’t want my pumpkin pie tasting like peanut butter. I want that perfect combination of pumpkin and spices. Working with such flavorful spices like nutmeg and cloves can be tricky! Too much spice can really throw off your taste buds! After lots of customer feedback and kitchen hours, we think we’ve nailed it! We’re excited to introduce the Maple Pumpkin Pecan Oatball to our fall lineup. It’s more than just Pumpkin Spice. We cant wait for you to try it!
Leave a comment