Pumpkin Hummus with Honey ♥

Today's healthy hummus recipe: A traditional chickpea hummus, turned pretty and slightly sweet with pumpkin and a drizzle of honey. No added oil!

Whole Food, Fresh & Seasonal. Homemade Hummus, Fast & Casual. Budget Friendly. Little Effort, Big Taste. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Easy Meal Prep. Lower Cal. Lower Carb. Lower Fat. Weight Watchers Friendly. Vegetarian, Easily Adapted to Vegan. Naturally Gluten Free. One of My Very Favorite Hummus Recipes. Happiness Quotient 100.

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Hummus Every Day?

Once upon a time, back BFB (before Facebook), back BiP (before iPhones, iPads and iLives), there was a food blog which published one hummus recipe after another. Week in, week out, hummus and more hummus and still more hummus. I've lost track of the blog but at the time, I wondered, Who can eat so much hummus?

I'm here to say: it happens! A couple of months back, a Syrian restaurant opened nearby. Their hummus is so creamy-dreamy, I don't want to know how much olive oil it takes to achieve ethereal dimensions.

So I set out to use some of that kabocha squash "pumpkin" I've been roasting. (See Homemade Kabocha Squash "Pumpkin" Purée from Kitchen Parade, my food column. Not to worry, canned pumpkin purée works just as well.)

Hummus came to mind – especially because the textures of roasted pumpkin and puréed garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas) are so similar. What about a lower-cal hummus?

It works! For Pumpkin Hummus, skip the oil entirely. Instead, use the chickpea liquid (you know, the stuff we often wash down the drain) plus lemon or lime juice to thin the hummus mixture to the right texture and taste. And then, in a stroke of inspiration if I may say so myself, instead of drizzling olive oil over the hummus to serve, use a little honey.

Brilliant! Thanks to the pumpkin, the hummus is already a tiny bit sweeter than usual – not "sweet" mind you, but a little sweeter – and the honey just gilds the lily.

Setting aside one tradition after another, I served Pumpkin Hummus with Honey not with pita bread but Pumpkin Corn Bread.

Take Hummus to Another Level

Hummus made from scratch at home turns soooo smooth and soooo creamy when you start with dried chickpeas instead of canned chickpeas and cook them with baking soda. It's totally worth the effort! Check out How to Cook Dried Chickpeas Especially for Hummus aka "Jerusalem Chickpeas", you'll end up with the equivalent of four cans of chickpeas. Yes, they freeze!

But! If you're happy with store-bought hummus, don't start making hummus from scratch. You'll never go back. That said, just think how much happier you might be with hummus that you make and play with yourself. Like Pumpkin Hummus with Honey!

COMPLIMENTS!
"... soooo yummy! made a double recipe for us hummus addicts. wasn't sure if my middle eastern-american husband would like it but he kept eating it by the spoonful!" ~ Anonymous

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PUMPKIN HUMMUS with HONEY

Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 10 minutes
Makes 2 cups

2 small cloves fresh garlic
Salt & pepper to taste
1 16-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained (save a few chickpeas for garnish; also save the Chickpea Liquid, see ALANNA's TIPS)
1 cup (200g) canned pumpkin purée (see TIPS)
4 tablespoons (55g) tahini
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice or lemon juice, plus more for thinning
1 teaspoon cumin

Chickpea Liquid, if needed for consistency
Additional fresh lime juice or lemon juice, if needed for consistency & taste

TO SERVE
A few garbanzo beans
A sprinkle of sumac (see TIPS) or Spanish paprika or chipotle
A drizzle of honey or agave (for vegan)

In a food processor (see TIPS), process the garlic, salt and pepper together first.

Add the chickpeas, pumpkin, tahini, 1 tablespoon juice and cumin and process until smooth. If the hummus is thick, add some Chickpea Liquid, a tablespoon or two at a time, until your own desired consistency is achieved. Give the hummus a taste, after the addition of Chickpea Liquid, it may need a little more acidity so hit it with a bit more juice.

TO SERVE Arrange a big swirl of the hummus in a flat bowl, leaving a depression in the center. Scatter a few garbanzo beans over top, then a sprinkle of sumac. Drizzle with honey.

ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
FOOD PROCESSOR Pumpkin Hummus baaaaaarely fits a mini food processor (affiliate link). If you have a larger one, use it!
GARLIC & SALT TOGETHER This is such a great technique, processing garlic and salt together in a food processor before adding the other ingredients. There's no need to chop the garlic first, just throw it in with the salt and process, scraping the sides is needed. The goal is to process the garlic down to tiny bits so it distributes really well. Use the same technique any time a recipe calls for garlic and using a food processor.
CANNED CHICKPEAS A standard can of chickpeas weighs in between 15 and 16 ounces. Once you drain away all the salty gunk? You're down to just 9.5 ounces or 271g. (And the Nutrition Information for Pumpkin Hummus accounts for that.) That said, don't drain away all that gunk, save it in case the hummus needs extra liquid or to make aquafaba!
PUMPKIN For pumpkin, use canned pumpkin purée, it should be 100% pumpkin, not the pumpkin pie filling that includes sugar and spices. Good news, this Pumpkin Hummus is extra good with Homemade Kabocha Squash "Pumpkin" Purée.
SUMAC What is sumac? It's a slightly sour Middle Eastern spice, a nice contrast to the creamy hummus. More info? See the notes in Fattoush (Traditional Middle Eastern Salad).
LEMON JUICE I use lemon juice or lime juice to thin the hummus a little, typically this is done with olive oil but I really like the brightness of this hummus. A little oil wouldn't hurt – but if you want to make hummus without added oil, Pumpkin Hummus is your recipe!
SERVING FOR ONE OR TWO A big plate of hummus works well when there's a few people. But it's usually just my husband and me so instead of doing one big plate, I do two small servings in small ramekins, still garnishing it for prettiness.

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per 1/4 Cup: 96 Calories; 4g Tot Fat; 1g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 177mg Sodium; 13g Carb; 2g Fiber; NetCarb11; 2g Sugar; 3g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 2 & PointsPlus 2 & SmartPoints 3 & Freestyle 3 & myWW green 3 & blue 2 & purple 2 & future WW points

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~ How to Cook Dried Chickpeas Especially for Hummus aka "Jerusalem Chickpeas" ~
~ Crazy-Smooth Crazy-Good Hummus ~
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~ Red Pepper Hummus ~
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~ Chicken Greek Salad with Simple Hummus ~
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