Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the cooler weather, Aggie football, boots, and pumpkins! Many of my friends love and extoll the wonders of the pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks. For whatever reason, I have never been a fan of the latte, but I do love pumpkin muffins!

Several years back my mom found a recipe for Weight Watchers that involved taking a box of spice cake mix, a can of pumpkin puree, and a cup of water, mixing them together and baking to create a tasty 1 point muffin. The problem with that recipe is the dependency on a prepackaged cake mix that is no doubt full of preservatives and additives.

My desire to get a healthy pumpkin spice muffin without the box was satisfied when I came across this recipe on allrecipes.com. Created by an affiliate of the American Diabetes Association, these muffins replace most of the oil with pumpkin and unsweetened applesauce and a small amount sugar to create a muffin that has only 97 calories and 2.5 grams of fat per muffin! With that count, you can afford to eat more than one!

These aren't overly sweet, in fact they remind me of a bran muffin in terms of sweetness but they are tasty. From the original recipe I added allspice, replaced white sugar for brown sugar and replaced almond extract with Mexican vanilla extract. If you're looking for a muffin that tastes good but doesn't start you off on the wrong nutritional foot, you should give these a try.

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Pumpkin Spice Muffins


Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 cups unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.

 In a larger bowl, combine the eggs, pumpkin, applesauce, brown sugar, vanilla, and oil.

 Gradually add the flour mixture until all is incorporated being sure not to overbeat the mixture.

 Spoon into 18 muffin cups and bake for 25-30 minutes until cooked through.

 Enjoy knowing that the second muffin you're bound to eat won't kill your healthy eating for the day!

Source: Adapted from Allrecipes.com

JD's Chippery, a Dallas Classic

Well, tonight I had planned to bake and share with you a delightfully easy and delicious recipe for pumpkin spice muffins. Unfortunately, my local grocery store has not yet begun to stock canned pumpkin, an essential ingredient to this recipe. So instead, I decided to write about my favorite muffin bakery, JD's Chippery.

JD's Chippery opened in 1983, on the corner of Daniel and Hillcrest in Dallas, Texas, across from the Southern Methodist University campus. This quant, local bakery specializes in cookies and muffins that are made fresh daily. Additionally, JD's provides cherry limeades made from scratch that take one back to soda fountain days gone by.

I've been fortunate to live just a few blocks away from JD's the past two years, and it has frequently become a go to spot for breakfast on my way into work in the morning. Over the years, I've tried several of their muffins and each one is enjoyable for different reasons. Their double chocolate muffin is sinfully decadent and tastes more like dessert than breakfast. I tend to go for this option for special occasions, such as birthdays, anniversaries, and other celebratory events.

Photo credit: JD's Chippery Website

One of my other favorites is their pumpkin muffin. It's offered year round and tastes like fall in your mouth, much like a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks. If you're concerned that a muffin won't fill you up and keep you full, I like to enjoy their ham and cheese muffin as a change to the sweeter muffin varieties, taking advantage of the protein that both ingredients provide.

Finally, if health is your concern, JD's offers 3 muffins that are low-fat: oat-branana, blueberry oat bran, and carrot apple raisin bran. My go-to muffin for day-to-day is the oat branana. It reminds me of the banana bread that my mom would make growing up with banana baked inside along with the bran. I like that it's more interesting than your standard bran muffin without losing the benefits that bran provides.

I know I haven't said much about the cookies. I've tasted several over the years and while they too are delicious, they are not what has me coming back for more. To me, JD's Chippery is all about the muffins and giving me something to eat on those rushed mornings headed to work. One important thing to note: they accept cash and checks only, no cards so come prepared.

Spiced Cranberry Muffins

One of my dearest friends just had her second baby! Therefore, it is time for food to be delivered, and what could be better than yummy and comforting muffins for those early and sleepy mornings!

I have made this recipe many times before. However, every time I have made the recipe, I have made it in the form of a Bundt cake, as the recipe is intended for a Bundt cake. I love Bundt cakes. They are so old fashioned and classic, and my Bundt pan is actually from my grandmother's kitchen, such a special connection to my family. However, this time, I decided to make the recipe in the form of muffins so that it would be easier for my friend and her family to just grab one muffin and go!

This is a really tasty recipe, and the credit is due to the sweetness and tartness of the cranberries nestled in a delectably light and fluffy spiced muffin, all beneath a light drizzle of zesty orange icing.  Find the original recipe at Epicurious.

Who can you take fresh muffins to today? Is there someone in your neighborhood or friend circle that could use a smile or a helping hand?

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Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups of flour
2 1/2 teaspoons of Chinese Five Spice Powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup fat free plain Greek style yogurt
1 cup chopped almonds (I used pre-sliced, like what you would buy for a salad)
1 cup frozen cranberries, halved
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Steps:
1. As this recipe has quite a few ingredients, I think it is best to measure everything out and have everything ready to go before you start!
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare you muffin tin and muffin liners.
3. Whisk together the flour, Chinese Five Spice powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger.

4. Beat the two sticks of butter (let come to room temperature before beating together) together in an electric
mixer.

5. Add both sugars to the whipped butter and beat until smooth, fluffy, and fully incorporated (about 3 minutes).

6. Add the three eggs to the sugar and butter mixture and beat until fully incorporated.

7. Add the vanilla extract and beat to incorporate.

8. Add the Greek yogurt and beat to incorporate.

9. Add the dry ingredients to the wet slowly and in small amounts.

10. Stir in the cranberries and almonds by hand.

11. Distribute the batter into 24 muffins.

12. Bake about 20 minutes, until nicely browned.

13. While the muffins are baking, prepare the orange glaze by adding as much of the orange juice to the powdered sugar (I used about 3 tablespoons) as needed to create a thick glaze, but one that will still flow easily. Drizzle lightly over the baked muffins.

14. Wrap up and give to a sweet friend!

 Shafer on the run with her favorite toy!

 Checking out the neighborhood 

Blarney's Island outside of Chicago...a fun and carefree evening with Bunker's cousins!