Starbucks-like Pumpkin Muffins

Yay for my friends!! Melissa made these muffins for us the other day and they are FABULOUS! They really do taste like Starbuck’s version.(Note: make the cream cheese filling first and let it freeze while you work through the rest of the recipe.)

Cream filling:

•  8 oz package cream cheese
• ¼ cup of powdered sugar

Blend together the cream cheese and sugar. Freeze this mix until it is slightly hard. You can scoop the cream cheese out into 1-2 tsp sized balls right after mixing it, then set them on a cookie sheet in the freezer for a half hour or longer. When they are ready, just push them down into the muffin mix in the muffin tins before you put them in the oven.

 Muffins:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 cups white flour
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground cloves
• 4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 2 cups canned pumpkin
• 1 ¼ cups vegetable oil (I use about 3/4 cup of oil and 1/2 a cup applesauce instead)  

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Mix the dry ingredients together, than add everything else except the cream cheese filling mix, and nuts. Fill muffin tins (greased or paper cups) half full. Put 1-2 tsp cream cheese in the middle, pressing down. Sprinkle with 1 tsp chopped nuts. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean from the muffin part (do not touch the cream cheese!). Let cool in pans for 5 minutes, then remove to racks to cool completely. Do not touch the cream cheese until it cools, as it is very very hot. Makes 24 muffins. These also work nicely in mini-muffin pans, just decrease the cream cheese mix to 1 tsp and baking time to 15-20 min.

If you don’t have time to make muffins, but instead want to check out Melissa’s website she’ll tell you where your kids can eat for FREE in the Denver area. She did all sorts of research for it. Cool, huh?

Recipe © 2009, melissa caddell. All rights reserved.

Pumpkin Bread

This is really good! Cooking Light recipe–not too much oil or bad stuff, and tastes very yummy. I didn’t have quite enough honey, so my bread isn’t extremely sweet, but it is still really good. Of course, we ate it for dessert tonight topped with whipped cream–so much for the healthy option!

Ingredients

Topping:
1/4 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons chilled butter or stick margarine, cut into small pieces
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Bread:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup raisins (didn’t add these–raisins in breads=gross in my opinion!)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I used 1 tsp)
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup canned pumpkin (used fresh)
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
Cooking spray

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare topping, combine first 4 ingredients until crumbly. Set the mixture aside.

To prepare bread, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and the next 7 ingredients (flour through nutmeg) in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture.

Combine the pumpkin and next 5 ingredients (pumpkin through eggs) in a bowl; add to flour mixture. Stir just until moist. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with topping.

Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 209 (30% from fat)
Fat: 6.9g (sat 1.7g,mono 2.4g,poly 2.2g)
Protein: 3.4g
Carbohydrate: 34.6g
Fiber: 1.4g
Cholesterol: 31mg
Iron: 1.3mg
Sodium: 252mg
Calcium: 29mg
Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2000

Roasted Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Pilaf

This recipe is SO good, but also pretty time consuming. You have to peel and cube the pumpkin which can take some time. You could make it with only sweet potato which would cut down on the time necessary.

Ingredients
2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled fresh pumpkin (about 12 ounces)
1 1/2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled sweet potato (about 1 medium)
Cooking spray
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup diced onion (1 small)
1/3 cup diced celery (about 1 rib)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup brown rice
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 bay leaf

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°.

Arrange pumpkin and sweet potato in an even layer on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray (or brush on some EVOO). Bake at 400° for 35 minutes or until tender and just until vegetables begin to brown, stirring after 18 minutes. Remove from oven, and set aside.

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, and garlic to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until onion is tender. Add broth and remaining ingredients to onion mixture, stirring to combine; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 50 minutes or until rice is done and liquid is mostly absorbed. Remove from heat; discard bay leaf. Add pumpkin mixture; stir gently to combine.

Jaime Harder, MA, RD, Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2007

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites

Want more pumpkin? Me, too. These are awesome. Again…thanks to my new favorite website Ourbestbites.com.

Crumb Crust
2 c. all-purpose flour
2/3 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. uncooked regular oats
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 c. finely chopped pecans (or walnuts)
3/4 c. butter, melted

Combine flour, sugar, oats, salt, and nuts in a medium bowl. Add melted butter and combine with hands until mixture is coarse and crumbly.

For mini tarts, drop a generous teaspoon of mixture into each hole; for cupcake-sized tarts, line a tin with foil cupcake liners and drop a generous tablespoon into each liner. Press down. Use leftover mixture to sprinkle on tarts before baking.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Filling
2 cups pumpkin
2 8-oz. packages cream cheese (light works great), softened
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
1 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
Sweetened whipped cream (optional)

Combine pumpkin, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs and seasoning and mix completely. Spoon into prepared crust and sprinkle with reserved topping. Bake at 350; for mini tarts, bake for about 16 minutes. For the regular tarts, bake closer to 20. If you’d like the crumb topping a little darker, you can turn the broiler on for a few minutes, but you have to keep a close eye on them because they will literally burn in a few seconds.

Allow to cool completely and then refrigerate. Run a knife around the edge of each tart to loosen and then gently pop out with the knife. Serve with sweetened whipped cream if desired. Can be made up to 3 days ahead.

Makes 48 small tarts or 24 regular.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Dip

All things pumpkin are fantastic in my mind. Mix that with cream cheese and you have something quite delightful!

1/2 cup pumpkin
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4-1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of cloves

Mix all the ingredients together with a hand mixer and you have a great dip for fruit, crackers, pretzels, etc.