I ordered Pumpkin Seed Oil recently from the online health foods company, Flora Health, and have been itching to try it out ever since. I heard that you can pretty much substitute pumpkin seed oil for any recipe that requires vegetable oil, so the search began to find the perfect dish. I looked into everything from savory dishes to salads until I actually opened the bottle and took a whiff of the incredible smell of pumpkin seed oil. I literally knew in that moment that it was meant for a dessert dish. The subtle nuttiness smelled like it would be phenomenal in moist vanilla cake. Cupcakes it was!

Ingredients

2 cups granulated sugar
½ cup pumpkin seed oil
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ cup light sour cream
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups milk

Recipe: You basically mix everything together and bake it at 350° for 15 minutes, that's all! Definitely my kind of recipe right there x).

As for the cream cheese frosting, just scoop it into a zip lock bag and cut the edge off by a centimeter and start piping it on the cooled cupcakes. I decided to pipe mine in swirls and stuck some roses on top for some tea party vibes. I recommend just buying cream cheese frosting at your local grocery store. Making it yourself would just be kind of nuts unless you have the time and energy to do it. In the end, it'll taste the same as store-bought but will cost more. Just buy it, girl (or boy)! x)

I can 100% confirm that the results were fantastic. As expected, the vanilla brought out the subtle nuttiness of the pumpkin seed oil in a way that can only be described as MOUTHWATERING. I can't believe I made these.

Pumpkin seed oil has a ton of nutritional benefits, including but not limited to:

Anti-hypertensive – has the ability to lower blood pressure.
Cardio – protective – can protect the cardiovascular system from disease.
Antioxidant – contains many free radical scavenging nutrients.
Diuretic – the oil shows strong diuretic effects.
Galactagogue – increases mother’s milk production
Anti-parasitic – aids the body in killing and expelling intestinal worms.
Anti-rheumatic – reduces inflammation because of powerful essential fatty acids.
Anti-insomnia – this oil may help one fall asleep faster. Not yet evaluated, but possibly because of tryptophan in the seed oil.
Anti-inflammatory – reduces inflammation all over the body.
Antioxidant – shows powerful activity against free radicals.
Prostate tonic – Pumpkin seed oil is one of the most powerful prostate tonic for men. It boosts the health of the prostate and protects it from benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).
Emollient – moisturizes the skin.
Anti-oedema– works against fluid build up in the body.

*Taken from OilHealthBenefits.com

You can buy it organic at Flora Health by clicking on the photo below:

I also made some chocolate chip cookies with the oil and they were yUMMMMAYYY. Here's the recipe:

2 1⁄2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 cup pumpkin seed oil
1 1⁄2 cups brown sugar
1⁄2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract (i've made it without and it tasted perfectly fine)
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Recipe: Mix it all together, roll the mix into one-inch balls, place them 2 inches apart on a baking sheet (oiled with the pumpkin seed oil) and bake it at 350° for 7 minutes. They bake super fast so keep an eye on them!

I baked it and I ate it. Happily. YUMMM!!

I bought several types of organic cooking oils from Flora Health before and was thoroughly impressed. Last time I created pasta from scratch with their organic extra virgin olive oil. No one had the heart to tell me that my noodles were too thick but they all raved about the flavor. So thank you, Flora Health, for covering my mistakes with your superb ingredients.

Flora also provides a plethora of other healthy products; each deriving from extremely high quality manufacturing (and growing) practices. If you ever need natural foods, vitamins, supplements, organic pet care products and so forth, check Flora Health to see what they offer on their site. I've shopped with them multiple times within the last year and I've never had a bad experience. Have fun shopping!!

Baking Delicious Cupcakes with Pumpkin Seed Oil

Ingredients