Simple Autumn Supper and Vegan Pumpkin Pie Brownies

I had a delicious and simple dinner the other night: pan seared seitan sausages with a mountain of roasted carrots and parsnips - so satisfying and comforting amid the chilly autumn winds that are blowing across the prairies right now.  I made these seitan sausages from scratch from my fave recipe found here: http://www.neverhomemaker.com/2010/02/street-food-veggie-style.html I add in whatever spices I am feelin' at the time, the most recent batch was full of garlic, fennel seed, chili's and oregano mmmmmm... I love them pan seared in a few tsp of safflower oil served with lots of grainy djon mustard!  As for the parsnips and carrots, I just scrubbed them and sliced them into 1/4 inch coins, tossed them with some olive oil and seasoned with good old S&P.  They took about 30 minutes in a 375 degree oven and were beautiful and caramelized.  You could add some sliced Yukon Gold taters for more substance too! 

I was craving something sweet after din din so I whipped up a batch of UNREAL pumpkin pie brownies.  I am a little crazy about pumpkin (and brownies for that matter...) and before I knew it, half the batch was GONZO...Luckily for me (and those of you incredibly smartie pants darlings who make these asap) they are pretty darn low in fat and full of beta-carotene rich pumpkin, yo!

This is my version of pumpkin brownies from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  It contains less sugar and uses whole-wheat flour. 

Vegan Pumpkin Pie Brownies

Ingredients:
for brownie layer:

1 cup pure pumpkin puree

1/2 cup vegan sugar (maple sugar, evapourated cane sugar, etc)

1/4 cup + 1 tbsp safflower oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 tbsp arrowroot flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

pinch salt

for pumpkin pie layer:

1 cup pure pumpkin puree

2 tbsp arrowroot flour
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I almost always use almond)
1/3 cup vegan sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp fresh gound black pepper (trust)

Preheat dat oven to 350 degrees.  Fill a 12 cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.  Sift the dry ingredients for the brownie layer together and stir together the wet.  Combine wet and dry brownie ingredients and divide amongst the prepared muffin tin.  Using a spoon or thumb, make a little well in the middle of each brownie.  Combine all pumpkin pie layer ingredients.  Divide mixture amongst each brownie and bake for about 25 minutes or until the pumpkin layer has formed cracks and feels firm (though a little jiggle is ok!).  Enjoy...