Easy To Make Pumpkin Baby Food Recipes

Most pumpkin baby food recipes are low in both fat and calories, are great sources of fiber and are high in vitamin A... which is great for your child's eyesight and skin.

Pumpkin can also be a great source of baby food and can be frozen without loosing quality.

You can of course buy pumpkin baby food prepared, which saves a lot of chopping and can be bought at any time of year. Or you can mix pumpkin puree into bread recipes and make rusks or bread sticks which are great for your baby to chew on.

Pumpkin Bread Dough

• 1 lb ( 500 grams) of cubed pumpkin flesh or 10 oz ( 300 grams) of tinned pumpkin. If using fresh pumpkin boil it for twenty minutes and drain preserving the cooking liquid. Either mash the vegetable or use a food processor

• 2 teaspoons of instant yeast

• 2 teaspoons of honey

• 1 lb ( 500 grams) of strong bread flour

• 1 teaspoon of salt pumpkin baby food recipes

Mix the yeast into 60 ml of the cooled cooking liquid ( It should be lukewarm). If using tinned pumpkin add it to lukewarm water. Add the honey and stir. Leave 5 minutes.

Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and ad the yeast liquid and then the pumpkin.

Mix in to make a course, sticky dough and then knead this until it is very smooth. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean cloth.

You must now leave the bread to rise. How long this takes will depend upon the temperature. In a warm room it takes about 1½ hours to double in size. Next you must decide whether to make bread sticks or to make a loaf which you will later cut into pieces and then dry out in the oven to make rusks.

Shape the dough as you prefer and place on oiled baking tray or in loaf tin. Leave for 20 minutes before cooking in pre-heated oven (220 ^oC /475 ^oF/ Gas 7). A loaf will take about 40 minutes, bread sticks somewhat less. Cut the loaf into chunks or thick slices for rusks, which you then dry out in a very low oven ( no more than 100C) for about an hour.

You can also use courgettes ( zuchinni), carrots, squash and parsnips in the same way.

Pumpkin Puree

Pumpkin puree is suitable for babies over 6 months of age and can be mixed with cereal or with such things as apple or apricot sauce or with another vegetable.

You may want to sprinkle a tiny amount of nutmeg, mixed spice or ground cinnamon into the mixture. Pumpkins are best baked or steamed if the full flavor and nutritional values are to be kept. Commercial rusks and bread sticks may have more salt or sugar than you would want your baby to have.

A little effort in making this bread is well worth it - but don't eat it all yourself, will you

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