An Old-Timey Recipe Reinvented: Pumpkin Butterballs!

My Nanny (Grandma) was born in 1926, and as I've made her Butterball recipe a few times I've pictured her, back in the 40's when she was a teenager, making these in her simple kitchen in Dayton, Ohio.




This was before the corn industry had completely taken over. You could still find butter and milk from grass-fed cows easily, and come to think of it, people used real butter instead of the mass that has converted to margarine. Uh-oh, I feel a rant coming on....

If you're reading this, hydrogenated oil is the enemy! Use real butter!!! I beg and plead with you, please! If you don't believe me about corn (which is not the same corn that it was 50 years ago), high-fructose corn syrup, or hydrogenated oils, there is a GREAT documentary that you can watch for free on Netflix called "King Corn". There are several on hydrogenated oil-just google it.

I feel like its my duty to warn you all about this because at 13 I was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes. If you ask any doctor, they will say that there is no definitive cause. I don't believe it. I was raised on junkfood-McDonald's several times a week, squeez-its (for those who remember what those are), american cheese, mountain dew, JUNK. If you have been eating this food and your body has held out for this long, you are lucky.

I once looked down on the "organic" crowd and labeled them as fanatics, but when I educated myself, I realized that they had a very good reason for changing their lifestyles.

...

I also realized that when God created the earth and everything in it, He knew what He was doing. Hydrogenated Oil, High-Fructose Corn Syrup, and other artificial ingredients weren't in the Garden of Eden...just something to think about.

NOW, with all of that said, I also believe in treating yourself once in a while. :)



And butterballs are the perfect fit for the occasion, and the real, grass-fed butter is what makes them great.

Kerry's Gold Irish Butter is an imported butter from grass-fed cows, and you can find it at any of your higher-end grocery stores.

Let's face it though, even if it isn't high-fructose corn syrup, any refined sugar is bad for you and it would be better if we just avoided it all-together. But, we won't. It's too much fun to celebrate with sugars to cut it out completely.

About the Butterball:

The original butterballs are basically a flaky pie crust recipe but rolled up into little balls dipped in powdered sugar rather than flattened into crust. Sounds good to me!

I was feeling festive the other day, and thought I'd change up the butterball for the fall season. The outcome was amazing!



Enjoy this old-timey recipe, reinvented.

Butterballs
Yields about 30

For Butterballs:

3/4 cup grass-fed butter
1/4 cup organic pumpkin puree
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. Organic All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup chopped walnuts

For Coating:

You can make your own powdered sugar, which is what I prefer to do. Just mix 2/3 part organic sugar to 1/3 part corn starch and you're good to go!

2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

1.Preheat Oven to 350 degrees Farenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Cream together your butter, pumpkin, and vanilla.
3. Then add your flour nutmeg, and walnuts and blend together like you would a pastry crust. There will be a lot of squeezing involved in getting it to stick together. It should be fragile but still be able to hold into small ball forms.
4. Form into 30ish balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter or whatever thickness you prefer.
5. Line onto baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
6. When they are cool enough to handle, roll them in the powdered sugar mix and remove onto a plate or storage container.



7. Enjoy with espresso!!!!