Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Muffins

Pumpkin baking and thanksgiving just seem to go together so I decided to make a batch of pumpkin muffins for breakfast. And knowing my boys, if it has even a smudge of icing on it they will eat it right up!  So pumpkin cream cheese muffins happened! 

I really do love baking on the weekend mornings especially when I can try out a new recipe! This long weekend was full of trips to the pool for family swimming, long walks, family dinners and family time!  It was lovely to have a weekend where we didn't have a bunch of activities to run in between, but next weekend is going to be back to the usual... 2 birthday parties, PACE begins, Halloween potluck, swimming lessons and the usual family fun mixed in there!  

But back to the muffins.... Asher gobbled back two muffins faster than I ate mine and Fraser (the sweet tooth) basically clicked all the icing out of his, asked for a "dip spot"; you know a puddle of icing to dip it into and then ate it. 

The recipe itself was quick and easy to make, Fraser and Daddy cracked the eggs for me and mixed up the wet mixture while I started on the icing and the whole recipe came together quite quickly.  I do feel like I NEED to have at least two cans of Pumpkin Puree in the pantry at all times through the fall and winter just in case inspiration strikes!  

Once baked, I dug little holes out of the muffins to make way for the frosting because I never find it works to "inject" them with it but do what works for you. 

My icing wasn't very thick so the holes kept it all together and as everything cooled it thickened up more!  

Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese Muffins

For the Muffins:

• 1-3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup coconut palm sugar
• 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg 
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds or walnuts
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup organic canned pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup almond milk

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/2 package cream cheese, at room temperature
• 4 tbsp organic confectioner’s sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F and line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin papers or silicon cups.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger, cloves and nutmeg.  Then mix in 1/4 cup of the pumpkin seeds or walnuts. 
3. In separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: eggs, pumpkin puree, olive oil, almond milk, and vanilla.  Pour over dry ingredients and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.
4. Spoon into prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle with remaining pumpkin seeds or walnuts. Bake in center of a 375°F oven about 20 to 25 minutes or until muffins are golden and tops are firm to the touch. Let cool in pan on rack for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
5. While the muffins are baking, whisk together the cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar and vanilla.  (If the frosting is too thick, add a bit of Greek yogurt.  If too runny, add more confectioner’s sugar.)  Set aside.
6. When muffins are cooled completely, inject each muffin with a generous amount of cream cheese frosting and enjoy! 

TIP: I dug out a little hole in each muffin with a chop stick so it made it easier to add the frosting. 

Original Recipe source Chris in Canada

Peach Pie Bars

Peach pie is a big treat around here and it's peach season so I picked up a huge box full of peaches to freeze for winter to put in my shake or use for recipes. 

We are leaving for camping tonight and though I have been busy slicing and freezing peaches for the last few days I still have a half box to use up before we go! 

I made a peach crumble the other day which only had a small amount of coconut palm sugar in the crumble so I've felt pretty ok about enjoying that as a nice evening snack. But I'm still wanting that peach pie! 

I just don't have the time to make one before we go with packing for camping. So I decided to try a peach pie bar instead.

It totally satisfied that peach pie craving because the base crust tastes like pie crust.  BUT it's pretty quick to throw together and much less work than an actual pie!

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
• ½ cup Cold Butter
• ½ teaspoon Sea Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Cold Water

Filling:

• 4-6 cups FRESH PEACHES, peeled, pitted and sliced
• 1/3 cup Honey
• 3 Tablespoons CORNSTARCH
• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Streusel Topping:

• ¾ cup Whole Wheat Flour
• ¼ cup Coconut Palm Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon or Cardamon 
• ¼ teaspoon Sea Salt
• 1/4 cup melted Butter

• Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 8x8 baking pan.
  2. In a food processor, pulse together crust ingredients to form a dough. Press into the bottom of prepared pan.
  3. In a medium bowl, stir together peach slices, honey, cornstarch, lemon juice and vanilla. Pour peaches on top of crust.
  4. In a small bowl, combine streusel ingredients. Sprinkle on top of peaches.
  5. Bake for 50-55 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the streusel is golden. Cool completely before cutting into bars.