Pumpkin Pie Muffins

I am not much of a baker. Throwing recipes together by sight and taste is what makes cooking enjoyable for me. When I am forced to time, measure and mix ingredients together in a certain order, I become impatient and often times stray from the recipe which, in a many cases, has turned out to be a disaster and in very few cases turned into a masterpiece.

I would, however, like to have some sweets in my blog. I may be far from a dessert chef, but I am an expert on eating sweets thanks to the influence of my former roommates. Abbey, a fabulous baker, used any occasion to make her spectacular desserts, which inevitably, always ended up in our house. Aubrey, a fabulous eater with an incredible sweet tooth, used any occasion as an excuse to eat those desserts in record time and not feel guilty about it. After three years of living with these two, I acquired quite the sweet tooth.

I also wanted to incorporate some sweets in this blog because desserts are a major vehicle to eating more healthy. This sounds ridiculous, I know, but many people cannot live without sweets and why do so if this is your means of indulging? Instead, there are several easy tricks to turning a dessert semi healthy or- I should rephrase- less unhealthy.

I got this recipe from the blog The Baker Chick. Whenever I post dessert recipes, I have either used a recipe, which I will cite, and added healthier substitutions or I will start with a recipe or two as a base and adjust them to be healthier or tastier.

I made these cupcakes for work the other day. I give props to The Baker Chick. These are delicious. Enjoy!

Recipe by The Baker Chick Blog

Makes 12

-2/3 cup all purpose flour

-1/4 tsp baking powder

-1/4 tsp baking soda

-1/4 tsp salt

-2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

-1 15-oz can pumpkin puree

-1/2 cup sugar Healthier Choice: 1 tablespoon of Stevia powder

-1/4 cup brown sugar

-2 large eggs

-1 tsp vanilla extract

-3/4 cup half and half Healthier Choice: use Evaporated Skim Milk

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper or silicone liners. *If using paper liners, evenly coat them with cooking spray. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice.

In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla and half and half until well combined. 

Add in dry ingredients and whisk until no streaks of flour remain and batter is smooth.

Distribute batter evenly in the muffin tin. (they should be about 3/4 of the way full.)

Bake for 20 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan. (They will sink as they are cooling.)

Chill cupcakes before serving. Top with whipped cream (or a small dab of cream cheese frosting) and a candy corn on top.