10.19.2010

Starbucks-Inspired Pumpkin Muffin and a feature!

A few years ago, a friend and I went out for coffee and shared an ah-mazing pumpkin muffin (or was it a cupcake? Let's call it a mupcake...such a fine line) from Starbucks. 


 Rolling in around 470 calories,
 needless to say, these babies are terrible for you!
{Now that's scary!}
Have no fear, I've got it covered!
 


Now, before you judge a muffin by its icing, let me explain. 

Ok, so I made these guys with cupcakes in mind. However, when I tasted one, it just screamed breakfast! So, I decided to try the icing with a bit less sugar and maple syrup in place of the extract..put a little less than usual on each one and wham-o! A tasty, seasonal, perfectly acceptable breakfast treat. Notice, I did say
treat. I am not under the false impression that these guys are actually a balanced meal, but I do think that they are wholesome enough for a chilly Autumn morning. That said, I changed the name to muffin and I'm sticking to it.

           Health-ified Pumpkin Muffins
(Recipe Adapted from Ina Garten)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup canned pumpkin purée (8 ounces), not pie filling
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, not packed
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare muffin pan with 12 liners. 
2. Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. In a larger bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin purée, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and applesauce. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined.
3. Divide the batter among the prepared tins and bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely.
4. Spread the cupcakes with the Maple Frosting and enjoy!

Maple Frosting

6 ounces reduced fat cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon Boyajian Natural Maple Flavor
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese and butter on low speed until smooth. Stir in the maple flavoring and vanilla extract. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.


Now that's better. 
:-)

Side note:

Today was a great day! It all started this morning when I saw that I was featured on Love Stitched! 





Have you seen Brittany's blog? It's adorable, you need to check it out!  She's hosting the final week of her Halloween Recipe Project...don't miss it! 


Thanks for visiting! 
Come back soon 
:-) 




12 comments:

  1. They look yummy! Its always scary to realize how much calroies/fat are in our favorite treats.

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  2. I have just finished making a batch of pumpkin muffins from a Martha Stewart recipe. I love them but I know they would be extra delicious with that yummy icing so thanks for the recipe!

    Best wishes,
    Natasha.

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  3. These look so de-lish! I love a good pumpkin "muffin" :) I will have to try this out.

    I'm your newest follower (found you from sassy sites)
    Jonie
    easyascutandpaste.blogspot.com

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  4. Yum!!
    Love those muffins can't wait to try the "healthified " version
    Stop over for a visit and enter my giveaway : )

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  5. Those look great! I was JUST tinkering with an oil-less pumpkin bread recipe. I was debating on weather to include applesauce, because I thought the pumpkin would suffice. It worked, but in the end I decided I should have added the applesauce. I hope yours taste as good as they look!
    Thanks for linking up to Making It With Allie.
    I can't wait to see what you have next week!
    AllieMakes.Blogspot.com

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  6. These look yummy and much better for you!

    www.laforcebewithyou.com

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  7. I don't think I even want to know how many new sizes Starbucks has given me. I think I'll stay home and try these! Thanks for sharing!

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  8. These muffins are amazing! I tripled the batch to use a large can of pumpkin and made them yesterday morning for a girlfriends birthday and some other girlfriends -everyone loved them! I made another triple batch yesterday afternoon for the teachers at the junior high (to take when I went to parent teacher conferances.) Again everyone loved them. I will make more muffins today to take to the rest of the teachers! Thanks for sharing your recipe!

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  9. Thanks for the comments, everyone!

    Cookie Mom: I'm SUPER happy you like this recipe so much! Thanks for sharing your success, I loved reading about it!

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  10. Love you pumpkin muffin and I must try it! We would love to invite you to link-up your Pumkpin Recipe to THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Pumpkin Theme:
    http://momscrazycooking.blogspot.com/2010/11/this-weeks-cravings-blog-hop-1-pumpkin.html

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  11. Healthified Starbucks sounds like my kinda muffin!

    If you get a chance, I'd love for you to link to this (and some of your other amazing posts!) on my blog hop :)

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I'd love to hear from you!