When the world turns orange, so too do our desserts. We are in the thick of pumpkin season, and with that comes all the sweet delights this versatile vegetable offers. Pumpkin desserts are possibly the best thing about fall: vibrant, sweet, spicy, and comforting. While you may struggle to feed savoury pumpkin to your children, they will gobble it up in dessert form. In this article, I will cover delicious pumpkin desserts that kids of all ages will love to make and eat.
What’s the Point?
Why even bother feeding your children pumpkin?
Pumpkin is a highly nutritious vegetable that is easy to hide in a wide range of recipes, savoury and sweet. Therefore, it is possible to sneak vitamins and minerals into your children without the battle.
Pumpkin offers a long list of nutrients that protect and support the heart, such as vitamins A, B1, B6, and C, copper, fiber, folate, and manganese (source). This wonderful vegetable provides calcium, potassium, and magnesium, which can help keep your heartbeat regular and your blood pressure low.
So go ahead, mum! Have some fun with your kids by getting on the pumpkin bandwagon this fall. Not only will they love making these creative recipes, but they will also enjoy eating every delicious bite – and they’ll be healthier for it, too!
Pumpkin Pie Pops
For a fun twist on a fall classic, turn your tradition pumpkin pie into these Pumpkin Pie Pops!
Mini pumpkin pie pops have all of the wonderful flavours of pumpkin pie in a cute little single sized portion. They kind of end up like a cross between pumpkin pie and a pumpkin cookie. Bake them with a lollipop stick inside for added cute-ness and usability.
This recipe from One Little Project serves her Pumpkin Pie Pops with a Maple Sugar Glaze, which looks absolutely divine.
These Pumpkin Pie Pops serve as a nifty party snack, after school snack, or even for a delicious sweet breakfast. Get your kids involved on a rainy weekend or holiday morning to cut out shapes and stick them together. This is something they will easily be able to do.
Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispie Treats
Buttery, gooey, and soft, Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispie Treats have just the right amount of sweet and pumpkin spice flavor. Top these perfect fall treats with a white chocolate drizzle and serve them up for dessert or snacks.
This recipe for Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispie Treats mixes pumpkin puree with marshmallows, butter, spice, vanilla and rice krispies for a delicious sweet snack that kids will go wide-eyed over.
And the best thing is: this recipe is so easy, your kids can make it themselves!
This Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispie Treat slices up cleanly and is perfect as a lunch box or after-school snack.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
As they say, a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, which is true of these chocolate chip-studded pumpkin muffins.
Muffins are such comfort food, soft and pillowy. Kids love to eat and make them. The best thing about muffins is you can sneak vegetables, like the beloved pumpkin, into them without kids noticing.
I also love how muffins come in dinky individual-sized servings. It makes them easy to serve, store, and transport. They work well as a lunch box or after-school snack.
Make this recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins with your kids. Because, when they’re part of the process, they enjoy the results!
Pumpkin Pie Parfait
Pumpkin Pie Parfaits are gorgeous to look at, to eat, and to make! Kids will love making all the separate layers, and the whole family will gobble them up. These parfaits also make an impressive Thanksgiving dessert!
This recipe for Pumpkin Pie Parfaits uses pumpkin puree, spice, cream cheese, vanilla pudding, and graham crackers to make a custard, pumpkin cheesecake and crunchy layered dessert.
Not only a super simple recipe that kids can make, but utterly delicious and perfectly comforting for fall!
Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes
This vegan recipe for Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes has a biscuit base, pumpkin cream cheese filling and a dinky orange-coloured cream topping.
Mini cheesecakes are a great pumpkin dessert recipe for kids, since they are kid-sized and simple to make. This recipe requires no baking and uses simple ingredients, Since it’s vegan, it’s great for those with dairy and egg sensitivities, too!
Garnish them with a stick of chocolate for a pumpkin stalk, and they will be at home for any celebration, be it an elaborate Thanksgiving feast, or an intimate fall gathering.
Pumpkin Spice Pancakes
Pumpkin Spice Pancakes is the best breakfast to start a crisp fall morning. These pancakes are so quick and easy to make and taste like clouds of pillowy soft pumpkin pie. They have the perfect amount of pumpkin spice and just enough sweetness.
Pancakes are a great kid-friendly breakfast option. Drowned in maple syrup, butter, and cream, they are a treat that children devour. These fluffy pancakes are thick, cloud-like, and gorgeously orange coloured. They are a perfect pairing with a chilly fall morning. Once your kids smell these, they’ll be jumping out of bed.
A great little hack for kid-friendly pancakes is to make them little, the size of a child’s hand. They will be easier for little paws to eat, and will be devoured faster than the more daunting adult-sized pancake.
Serve with maple syrup, cream, berries, banana, cinnamon, lemon juice, or yoghurt.
Pumpkin Ice Cream
Ice cream isn’t just for the summertime! Homemade Pumpkin Ice Cream is a deliciously creamy cold treat that is just as yummy on Autumn nights. With real pumpkin puree and warm pumpkin spices, this recipe is super easy to make and is FULL of pumpkin flavor.
The surprising thing about this pumpkin ice cream is that the pumpkin flavor mellows and melds with the other flavors after freezing the ice cream for 4 hours. This is great news for fussy eaters, who like sweet and spice but not necessarily that pumpkin flavour.
A fun way to get kids involved in the science of ice-cream making….plus, who doesn’t love ice-cream?
Conclusion
The wonderful news for those with kids who love baking is that there is a wide variety of dessert recipes to get them eating and enjoying pumpkin. From Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts, to Pumpkin Ice Cream, there are plenty of ways for parents and children to get creative in the kitchen.
Not only is there great potential for bonding and creating cherished memories with kids during the fall season, but you get to enjoy the best of what the humble pumpkin has to offer!
