Pumpkin Muffins And An Online Bake Sale Update....

Fall is truly coming and although it's still in the high 70's here, the mornings are crisper and the nights are darker. Another accurate fall marker is the amount of pumpkin blog posts starting to appear. I love the fall tastes and smells, readying my senses for the colossal meal which will appear before me at the end of November. I couldn't wait any longer so today I chose to make these really simple pumpkin muffins, which the recipe said were very alike to those sold at Starbucks. I mention them because of the cream cheese hidden in the bowels of the spicy batter, a great invention from whoever thought of that creation.
Sometimes I see a perfectly good recipe but feel the need to try and change it just a bit, having this blog has definitely helped me to experiment more and I can assure you some recipes haven't made it to the posting page just because they were a flop. These muffins almost went the same route, I ended up switching the cream cheese for mascarpone cheese mixed with maple syrup and this in itself is worthy of just eating on it's own. The problem with the mascarpone? It melted and where it had been delicately piped into the middle of the batter was just a dark void once they came out of the oven.

So why did the muffins not end up on the cutting room floor? What they lacked in visually they made up for in taste with the mascarpone and maple melting into the muffin and keeping them moist and a little gooey. I'll make these again but will keep to using the cream cheese. Some you win and some you lose...

Here's the recipe courtesy of Food.Com: Yield 6 Muffins

3/4 Cup  AP flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Pinch of cardamom
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 Egg
1/2 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup pumpkin
1/3 Cup veg oil
2 oz cream cheese
Pumpkin seeds to sprinkle on top

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix all ingredients together (except cream cheese and nuts).

Fill muffin tins (greased or paper cups) half full.

Put cream cheese cube in the middle, pressing down.

Sprinkle with 1 tsp chopped seeds.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean from the muffin part (do not touch the cream cheese!).
Let cool in pans for 5 minutes, then remove to racks to cool completely.

Online Bake Sale Update 

Bloggers who have kindly volunteered to be part of this fundraising cause so far.

If you would like to be a part of this sale, send me an email gerryspeirs@hotmail.com

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