Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Happy Sunday! It is absolutely magical here, and with it being pumpkin season and Halloween almost upon us, I thought it would be the perfect day for some pumpkin spice mini-muffins! Below is the basic pumpkin spice recipe, followed by a few other ideas. Pumpkin is just so fun... Consider them variations on a theme, Autumn-Style. :O)

Basic Pumpkin Spice Mini-Muffins:

1 bag Flour Girls' Basic Muffin Mix
2-3 tbsp. canned organic pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie, simply plain pumpkin!)
1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped nuts (I prefer to use pecans, but you can use whatever you like!)
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1-2 tbsp. sugar or other sweetener (optional)
1 egg
2 tablespoons softened butter or oil
1/4 - 1/3 cup of liquid (we generally use milk, but feel free to try other things!)

Preheat your oven to 300. In a medium bowl, add the mix, one egg, pumpkin, milk (or other liquid), cinnamon and nutmeg. Now is also the time to add in the extra tablespoon of sugar, if you choose to do that. Mix well. Add in the butter or oil and stir well again.

You want the batter to be fairly thick. Add in the the nuts and if you want them, the chocolate chips, then use a teaspoon to scoop a little mix into a well-battered mini-muffin tin. Bake for 35-50 minutes. Remember, you want them a bit on the dark side - golden brown means they're not done! Makes 12 mini-muffins or 6 regular sized muffins.


Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Mini-Muffins:

To the basic recipe above, add in 1/4 cup dark chocolate/semi-sweet mini-chips. You can use more if you'd like. Also, only add in 1 tablespoon of extra sugar unless you really prefer them sweeter. Bake as directed above.

Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Mini-Muffins:

Make the basic recipe above. Then, in a separate small bowl, mix together:

4-6 tbsp. softened cream cheese
Dash of cinnamon or nutmeg or both (enough to give it a hint of flavor)
Dash of vanilla extract
1 - 1 1/2 tsp. sugar, honey or agave (I used honey and it turned out lovely!)

Mix well. After placing the muffin batter into the pan, then use a teaspoon to dole out a little (or a lot, depending on your taste!) of the cream cheese mixture into the center of each. Push it down a little, to get the cream cheese down into the muffin - not all the way to the bottom, but close. It's a little messy, but OH, SO WORTH IT. These are seriously yummy!

These you will need to bake for an extra 5-10 minutes, and you may want to cover them toward the end of baking so the cream cheese doesn't get too brown on the top.

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With the pumpkin, extra sugar, and the chocolate chips, each mini-muffin will be approximately 7.5 - 8.5 carbs, and at least 50% fiber (not to be subtracted from the carb-count, though - I have already deducted the fiber from the total carb count, so they will be no less than 7.5 carbs per mini-muffin).