Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes with a Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes with a Cinnamon Cream Cheese Topping

Ingredients
2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp of ground cloves
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter
4 eggs
1 can of pumpkin puree

Cinnamon Cream Cheese topping
1/2  package of low fat cream cheese
1/2  stick of unsalted butter
1 cup of confectioners sugar
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of vanilla extract

Pre heat oven to 350

1. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon ginger, nutmeg and ground cloves. Set aside

2. In a large bowl, whisk together sugars, butter and eggs. Add dry ingredients and mix until smooth.

3.  Line cupcake tins with the cupcake cups. Divide evenly into the the mini cupcake tins. Bake for 14 minutes. Do the toothpick test. Allow to cool.

This batch makes 6 dozen mini cupcakes.

To make the frosting
Using an electric mixer,  mix the cream cheese butter, cinnamon and vanilla. Gradually add the confectioners sugars. Mix until completely blended and smooth.

Frost the cupcakes to your liking.  I like just a tad bit of frosting.
I don’t own a pastry bag,  so I put the frosting into a small plastic baggie, let it all fall down to one corner. Using scissors, cut a small corner of the bag off.

Eat up!
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I much prefer mini cupcakes as to the regular sized ones.  They are just so cute..

Apple-Cinnamon Granola

Apple Cinnamon Granola

Ingredients
2 cups of rolled oats
2 cups of puffed red wheat cereal
1 cups of chopped walnuts
2 cups of dried apple rings, chopped
2 TBS of brown sugar
1/2 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
3 TBS of cinnamon
1 TBS of apple spice
1 TBS of canola oil
1 TBS of honey
1/4 cup of almonds, chopped or slivered

Preheat oven to 300 degrees
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil.

In a large mixing bowl, add the rolled oats, puffed rice, walnut and almonds.  Mix and set aside.

In a small sauce pan, over medium heat, at the canola oil, apple sauce, brown sugar, cinnamon and apple spice. Stir and let it get to a boil.  Remove from the heat, then pour over the oats/nuts mixture. Stir it, making sure it’s evenly mixed. Sprinkle in a little more cinnamon.   Pour the mixture onto the cookie sheet and spread evenly.

Bake in the oven for 12 minutes. Using a spatula, stir the mixture, turning it over. Then bake for an additional 12 minutes and remove from the oven.

In a small bowl, add the chopped apple rings,  the honey, sprinkle some cinnamon and stir around.  Add the apples to the granola on the cookie sheet.
Stir the mixture and turn it around, then  put it back in the oven for 15 minutes.  After the 15 minutes, turn the mixture over again, then bake for just another 5-7 minutes.

Remove from the oven, and let cool completely. The granola will get its crunchiness at this stage.

Store in an airtight container.

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Eat with yogurt, milk,  or ice cream. It’s soo good.
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Other Granola Recipes:
Cranberry Almond Granola

Pumpkin Oatmeal

Steel Cut Oats with Pumpkin Puree,  Pepitas and Fall spices

Oats can get boring from time to time, so it’s great to mix it up by adding different seeds, nuts, spices, honey, fresh fruit, dried fruit etc. This morning I wanted something pumpkin-ish, so I created this fall inspired steel oat recipe with hints of pumpkin spices to give me that taste I was craving.

We all have our own method for cooking oats, some like it creamy or lumpy, some folks will only use milk, etc. I usually cook mine in water and add a little almond milk or regular milk at the end to increase the creamy ratio. I say, make them how you usually do, but add the extras listed below. You can use rolled oats or steel cut oats to create this flavorful breakfast.

Ingredients
This recipe is for 1 serving
1/2 cup of steel cut oats
1 1/2  cups of water
Pinch of salt
Extras
2 invidual packets of Stevia
3 TBS of pepitas
1 TBS of Chia Seeds
2 TBS of pumpkin puree
Cinnamon
Ground Cloves
Ground nutmug

In a small saucepan, let the water come to a boil. Add the oats and salt, stir and let it get back to a boil. Drop the heat to a low- simmer and let cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring from time to time so it doesn’t stick to the bottom on the pan.

Add the stevia, pepitas, puree, chia seeds and sprinkle some cinnamon, ground cloves and ground nutmeg. I recommend tasting the oats and add more of the spices as needed.

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