Firstly, welcome to all my new followers! The vast majority of you have probably come from this excellent BBC Magazine article, which mentioned my little old blog… except now it doesn’t feel quite so little. I’m very excited to have so many new people in the Hello Hygge family, and I can’t wait to share lots of hyggeligt thoughts with you!
You may not know this, but I love pumpkin. I love it in risotto, in ravioli, in cake, in pie, in salad, in EVERYTHING. So, as the pumpkin queen, and now we’re in the spookiest of all the months, I think it’s high time I share with you some of the best pumpkin recipes I’ve found online.
Pumpkin mac ‘n’ cheese
Can you believe it? Can you? It’s PUMPKIN and it’s MAC ‘N’ CHEESE. It’s PUMPKIN MAC ‘N’ CHEESE. OH MY GOD. I mean, hygge is all about cosiness and warmth and homeliness, right? So mac ‘n’ cheese is an obvious choice. But adding in pumpkin? Unreal. I would use actual macaroni rather than the penne in the picture, but I won’t tell if you want to use something else.
Recipe here
Paleo pumpkin pie
I don’t follow a paleo diet, but I love how simple this recipe is. I’m diabetic, so the lack of sugar is a real bonus. Pumpkin pie doesn’t seem to have really taken off in the UK just yet, so you might be thinking ‘where the bloody hell am I going to find a can of pumpkin?’ I use Libby’s, which is available in Waitrose and Tesco, or can be ordered on Amazon. You may also be thinking ‘what the bloody hell is pumpkin pie spice?’ It’s very easy to make your own with a blend of nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice and ginger – I go easy on the ginger and kick up the nutmeg and cinnamon.
Recipe here
Pumpkin bars
Bet you’re glad I told you about the canned pumpkin now, right? Say hello to your new favourite autumnal treat. The good thing about these is that you probably have most of the ingredients kicking around already, so they’re nice and easy to make. We don’t really have whipped dessert topping in the UK (do we? If we do, please tell me!), so I’d probably just make a nutmeg-flavoured cream cheese frosting (think carrot cake) or a maple buttercream. I love tinkering with recipes, so I’d probably throw a few chopped pecans on top as well.
Recipe here
Pumpkin and goat’s cheese lasagne
Right, I’ll get this out of the way first: goat’s cheese is one of the very few foods I absolutely can’t stand, so I would replace that with ricotta in this recipe. I think lasagne embodies hygge very well – it’s a communal dish, served family style, and it’s warm and comforting and creamy and reassuring. Pumpkin works like a dream in lasagne, with its gorgeously silky texture and its robust structure. This would work just as well with butternut squash, but in October? It’s got to be pumpkin. And psst – as an added bonus, this is a Nigella recipe.
Recipe here
Pumpkin spice mug cake
What’s that you say? A cake I can make and eat in less than five minutes? Why yes, I’ll have 12. I LOVE mug cakes, because I’m a basic bitch, so I’m all over this. It’s also a good way to use up the last scrapings of a can of pumpkin puree. If anything, it’s highly economical. That’s my excuse. I’d probably kick this up a notch by dropping a spoonful of something great into the batter before it’s blitzed in the microwave – Nutella, peanut butter or Marshmallow Fluff
Recipe here
Oh, this post could go on for about six years, but I’m going to show a bit of restraint and leave it there for now. You can find a lot more delicious autumnal recipe ideas over on my Pinterest board (if you like peanut butter, maple syrup and butternut squash, we’re going to get on well).
How about you? Do you have any killer pumpkin recipes? I’m always on the lookout for delicious new things to cook for hyggeligt autumn evenings, so I’d love to hear what you’ve found.
Hello Hygge 
I just found your blog through the BBC article! Yay! Here’s a link that will give you an idea of what some of my blog friends and I have been doing to encourage hygge. We are sending Mr. Badger from The Wind in the Willows all around the world so HE can promote hygge. He’s been to Belfast and then hopped around a bit in England. He’ll fly to America next. He’s a good little hygge ambassador. Here’s the link:
http://pompomsponderings.blogspot.com/2015/01/hygge-and-mr-badger.html
Aww! Hello Mr Badger! If he ever fancies a trip to Brighton, he’s very welcome 🙂
Found you through the BBC page thingy and my post today on my blog is all about Hygge – and in an interesting way I have discovered that we sort of have a Hygge-ist life, now having a ‘name’ for this ethos and fresh inspiration is brilliant ! My husband loves pumpkin so I think I might be trying out a recipe or two 🙂 x thank you
It’s really exciting to find out it has a name isn’t it? I spent the first few days after I learnt of the word religiously trawling the internet for EVERYTHING HYGGE. Let me know how you get on with the pumpkin recipes, and thanks for dropping by! x
Find me on Facebook and i Will telt you all about HYGGE 😊
From danish
Tanja
Love pumpkin. The look very nice….Im hungry hahaha.
Cooking is a good form to do hygge. It is very relaxing. Congrat. Kiss
Haha! Now is the perfect time to be trying out some pumpkin recipes 🙂 Let me know if you make anything or if you find any other good recipes, I’m always looking for new things to try in the kitchen! x
😃😃😃thanks. I will think about
Thanks so much for this! I also found your blog through the BBC article, and I’ve fallen in love. My stepfamily are Danish, and it’s so cool to feel like I’m understanding a key part of the culture (it reminds me a lot of the Austrian Gemuetlichkeit, from my time living in Vienna). I’m super-excited to try out these recipes: it’s rainy and cold here in North Carolina (three cheers for the end of hurricane season!), and after some time away, I need a weekend of hyggeligt baking, tidying, and catching up on BBC Radio 4 panel quiz games.
Hello! Aww, that’s so sweet! Have you ever managed to visit Denmark? It’s a beautiful country. I’ve never heard of Gemuetlichkeit, but I’m going to look it up now! This is such a cool thing about having this blog – I get to learn about so many interesting things from the people who read it. That sounds like an awesome weekend, especially if you’re hiding indoors in hurricane season! Stay safe, and thanks so much for reading 🙂
Happy to find I’ve been kind of doing hygge for years without even realising it had a name! I was looking at recipes today and found a very appropriate one from Nigel Slater which I intend to try soon, it’s the delicious maple cookie one at the bottom: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/sep/27/nigel-slater-autumn-recipes-kitchen-diaries
Hi Helen! It’s satisfying to discover this ‘thing’ has a name isn’t it? That recipe looks AMAZING, and I’m a huge maple fan so will definitely give these a try! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
I have just made a batch of the maple cookies and am happy to report they are delicious!
Excellent news! Ooh, you’ve made me want to do some late-night baking now…