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It’s been a busy time. Lots of writing, lots of baking, but not so much time for blogging. But pumpkin season hit my messy kitchen and it’s worth blogging about, maybe even bragging about. I think bragging is acceptable as long as I supply the recipes, right?
CHOCOLATE PUMPKIN SPICE MUFFINS
So maybe they look a little lumpy on top. But they had this perfect combination of chocolate and pumpkin, lightness in the texture with a dark, rich flavor, and I came home the next day to find one of my daughter’s friends with a mouthful of crumbs, saying (with difficulty), “These are delicious!” Next to the one she was eating was an empty baking cup from the one she’d had right before it. When the seven-year-olds are stuffing their faces with healthy muffins, you know you’ve done it right.
CHOCOLATE PUMPKIN SPICE MUFFINS (adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction)
ingredients:
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
2/3 cup low fat Greek yogurt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 large egg whites
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla crush (extract is fine)
2/3 cup whole wheat white flour
1/3 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
directions:
Heat oven to 450 degrees, and spray or line a 12-cup muffin tin. I used my silicone baking cups, the nice free ones I got from the New York Baking Company.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the pumpkin,yogurt, brown sugar, maple syrup, egg whites, oil, and vanilla. Beat until smooth, eliminating all yogurt lumps if you see them.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt. Slowly add the wet ingredients, and stir just enough to fully incorporate. Fold in the mini chocolate chips.
Scoop the batter — it will be thick! — into muffin cups, distributing evenly.
Bake at 450 for five minutes, then reduce temperature to 375 and bake for another 12-18 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let sit in the pan for five minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.
PUMPKIN CUPCAKES A LA JULIET
Juliet and I have been watching a lot of Master Chef Junior. We already love Rachel vs. Guy Kids Cook-Off, and now we have another kids’ cooking show to watch together, and it’s inspiring her. “I want to bake something on my own,” she told me, so we set aside some time on the weekend and I back seat drove while she made pumpkin cupcakes.
The only things I had to step in and take care of? I separated the eggs, and took care of everything involving the oven. She did the rest. She measured, she whisked, she stirred, and she scooped. Sadly, I didn’t take any pictures of all this activity, but the truth is, we were having a lot of fun hanging out and I thought that was more important.
The cupcakes turned out great. They didn’t last long, not just because she gave some to her teachers and her friends, but because we all couldn’t stop eating them. A baking star is born!
PUMPKIN CUPCAKES (adapted from Self Magazine)
ingredients:
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup almond milk
1/4 cup safflower oil
1/4 cup low fat vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup honey
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1 2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
cinnamon-sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees and spray or line a 12-cup muffin tin.
In a large bowl, beat together the pumpkin, almond milk, safflower oil, yogurt, honey, egg whites, and vanilla. Stir well.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, wheat germ, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir just until incorporated.
Scoop the batter into cups and sprinkle a little cinnamon sugar on top, if desired.
Bake at 375 for five minutes, then reduce temperature to 350 and bake for another 15-25 minutes. (Mine took a long time to bake all the way through, but my oven has been a little erratic lately; after this, I bought a thermometer to monitor things better.) When a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean, take them out and give them 5 more minutes in the tin, then move to a wire rack for cooling.
PUMPKIN CINNAMON COOKIES
I didn’t do anything to alter this recipe, so I will simply say the two most important things that must be said about them.
Thing 1: They didn’t look ANYTHING like the picture on the blog (Two Peas And Their Pod) the recipe came from.
Thing 2: They were not only the best pumpkin cookies I’ve ever eaten, they were maybe among the best cookies I’ve ever eaten.
You know how pumpkin cookies are usually kind of cakey, and just a little too soft? Not these! They were real cookies in every way, with a slight crispness to the outside, and a softness on the inside that was still cookie-like, completely. I am going to have to make these again and again, and then eat them all, and then make another batch for somebody else.
Since I didn’t alter the recipe, I will send you straight to the blog for the original. Get that recipe now!
PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE WITH CINNAMON-CHAI FROSTING (AND SUGAR PUMPKINS)
(Snapped this photo with my iPhone)
This is my go-to dessert for Thanksgiving, and this year I was able to make it even nicer thanks to my friend Scratchy, who sent me these cute little shaped sugars. The pumpkins are have pumpkin spice in them as well as sugar, and they gave it that extra touch of perfection.
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