Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

So I love October. It's probably, no, definitely, my favorite month. The air gets a little cooler, the beers a little darker and the food a little, well, how do I put this? The food gets better. Mostly because of pumpkin. But also because of pumpkin muffins, pumpkin coffee, pumpkin scones, pumpkin drugs. You know the deal. And, without a doubt, when I finally started baking again (it's been a while if you follow this blog), pumpkin had to be the debut. So pumpkin 'twas.

These little muffies were super tasty, moist and delicious. They weren't super sweet, and in fact, I would even recommend that you use a cream cheese frosting if you want something a little more dessert like. See my recipe for cream cheese frosting here. But, if you're fine with a muffin that is indeed more like a muffin, give it a go friends!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 18 muffin cups.

2. For the cream cheese filling, in a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until soft. Add egg, vanilla and brown sugar. Beat until smooth, then set aside. 

3. For the streusel topping: In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Add butter and cut it in with a fork until crumbly. Set aside. 

4. For the muffin batter: In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the center of flour mixture and add eggs, pumpkin, olive oil and vanilla. Beat together until smooth. 

5. Place pumpkin mixture in muffin cups about 1/2 full. Then add one tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture right in the middle of the batter. Try to keep cream cheese from touching the paper cup. Sprinkle on the streusel topping. 

6. Bake at 375 degrees  for 20 to 25 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins (made healthier!)

I'm looking out my window, feeling the subtle breeze and I can tell...fall is coming.

Fall is my time of year. The weather is perfect. The cuisine is comforting. All my favorite holidays are ahead, including my birthday, next Friday. Like I said, it's my time of year.

Few things make me happier than when the leaves start changing. 

Few things, I say, other than pumpkin. 

Pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin coffee...I'm surprised I'm not orange by Thanksgiving.

As so many foodies have said before me, pumpkin is an ingredient pigeonholed to October and November. Do you ever see a pumpkin pie at Easter or reach for a piping hot pumpkin spice latte in July? No.

But why is it, my friends, that we get so excited when it is pumpkin time? We love it. We go pumpkin nuts. 

I hated pumpkin for many years, but now I can totally say, after trying a pumkpin cheesecake, that I am a convert. And since last December, when Starbucks traded pumpkin for peppermint, I've longed for the spicy comfort of this seasonal standout.

Well, I will wait no longer. Fall is upon us, Halloween is seven weeks away and it's pumpkin time. So whip out a can and make these chocolate chip pumpkin muffins, and feel pretty good about them, because I've made them healthier for you. 

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins 

What ya need (for 14 muffins)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/4 cup water

1.5 cups AP flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

What ya do:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper lining.

2. Mix sugar, oil and eggs. Add the pumpkin and water and continue to mix. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt.

3. Pour wet mixture into dry and stir together. Don't overmix these little guys! Slowly fold in the chocolate chips, using up to 1 cup if you prefer

4. Fill cups 2/3 full of batter and bake in a preheated oven for about 20 minutes!

BOO!!!!!

Oh and guess what? Pumpkin galore recipes comin' your way!! And a giveaway, very soon!!! Keep on comin back!

Is it still Monday? Do I say this every Monday? I think so. I'm full, happy and sleepy, which is a great combination. Today, although I was supposed to be reading all day, I ended up revamping my food blog and baking and taking pictures of my meals. This made for a lovely day.. oops, sorry school!

I'm not even going to include my breakfast picture because it's so boring compared to everything else and it doesn't even look like what it is-- you've all seen it before, fear not: a whole wheat tortilla with peanut butter and banana with a side of coffee. I did my boot camp class today but it was such a small class that it wasn't too much fun. After work I did my own work out on the elliptical and lifted, blah blah no one cares about that! Well, I'd rather show you my food. It's prettier.

I made birthday muffins for someone today. The recipe called for 18 regular sized muffins but I ended up making 48 mini muffins. It's only 73 calories a muffin, nice. On half of the batch, however, since it was a birthday gift I decided to make a glaze for it. This genius idea was completely negated by the fact I accidentally used peppermint extract instead of rum extract and I thought I completely ruined the batch. Luckily, the sweet blueberries drowned out the taste of the mint completely, so the glaze was okay. Aren't they cute?!

Lunch was tasty, too. I saved some peppers from last nights fajitas and heated them up with chicken sausage, marinara and some italian cheese. I grilled the whole wrap on the stove top and the crispy consistency made the wrap tastier than it would have been cold. I had an apple, too.
A small snack later in the day was a bowl of Special K with blueberries, sugar and some milk. I'd be lying if I didn't mention my second cup of coffee... oopsies.

Dinner was fantastic.... we made the Ellie Krieger shrimp with tomatoes and feta recipe and served it atop of whole grain cous cous and a greek salad. The salad had olives (ew.), tomato, feta, cucumbers and stuffed grape leaves--yum. I topped it with a Greek yogurt dressing.



I think I'll have a couple muffins for dessert...since we have no more ice cream.. grr