Easy Pumpkin Muffins

It may not be fall, but I still love pumpkin! (shocking, I know)

So, this morning I felt like baking some muffins for the kiddos and since my youngest was having a tantrum for and hour in his room, i figured, what the hey, now’s my chance.
Off I went perusing my Clean Eating Pinterest Board.

The first recipe I came across (that I had all the ingredients for) was mine. And it’s good thing I stocked up on pumpkin last fall!!!

These were super easy, grain, egg, and oil free. (if you want them to be gluten free, make sure you buy gluten free oats).

You can really get creative with these muffins too! You could add chocolate chips (yum!), banana, cranberries, raisins, nuts, different yogurt flavors, anything really!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Muffins (adapted from Spokane Dinner Club)
Yield: 12 muffins

2 1/2 cups oats (instant or regular)
1 cup plain nonfat greek yogurt
1/2 cup honey
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 cup add-ins (nuts, raisins, chocolate chips, etc)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with 12 liners, or spray the tin. (I used a silicone pan with spray and it worked perfectly!)

In a blender or food processor, blend the oats until they look close to a flour texture. Pour into mixing bowl (a kitchen-aid would probly work, I used a regular bowl and a whisk) Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the 1/2 cup of add-ins and mix/whisk together until well blended.
Then add the add-in of your choice.
Divide the batter between your 12 muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool for a few minutes before eating 🙂

Pumkin Roll

Here I go again!

Pumpkin.

Are you sick of it yet?

A friend of mine asked me a while ago to help her make a pumpkin roll for her hubby who loves them and hasn’t had one for a couple years. They are both relatively new to Wisconsin, and honestly, I had never heard of a pumpkin roll! It’s apparently a regional thing or I’ve been left in the dark for far too long.

We planned it all out, Rachel and Lacey came over to help bake this scrumptious, delectable treat!

Actually, we made two!

I was a bit worried about  making these, since I’d never done it before. It’s easy enough to mix ingredients together, but to flip these babies out of the pan AND roll them up, then unroll them, fill them with cream cheese, sugary goodness, and ROLL THEM BACK UP!
It sounds like a lot of work.
But in the end, I was pleasantly surprised as to how easy it was. In fact, I want to make another one!

Pumpkin rolls go perfectly with coffee, by the way.

Pumpkin Roll
Note: My friend Rachel sent this recipe to me via Facebook. Prior to that, I don’t know where it came from.

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
powdered sugar for sprinkling

Filling:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs on high speed for 5 minutes. Slowly add the white sugar, pumpkin, and lemon juice and mix well. Add the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, ginger, and nutmeg and mix until combined. Batter will be thick, but spreadable.

Line the bottom of a large jellyroll pan with parchment paper and grease and flour the sides. Pour batter into pan.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup powdered sugar on terrycloth towel. (I used a regular kitchen towel) I lied the towel right on top of the pan and flipped the pumpkin sheet out, that way it would just fall onto the towel and not all over the table. Gently roll with the towel rolled up inside it as well and let it cool in the fridge.

While roll is cooling, prepare filling by mixing cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl. When roll has cooled, unroll it and spread the filling evenly. Roll it back up and refrigerate. It’s really hard to not crack the dough when rolling but if it does don’t stress because the cracks fix themselves when it refrigerates. Also, slightly dampening the cloth helps. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Cut into 1 inch slices to serve.

Enjoy!

Try, Try Again

Well, I’ve done it again. I made a clean (which also happen to be gluten free) treat for myself last night, and it did NOT turn out.

I’ve done this countless times. I really want something yummy AND healthy. Is that too much to ask for?

I don’t think so.

Most recipes I try aren’t sweet enough or are too sweet, but in a weird way. Not a sugary sweet, since I don’t use granulated sugar. It’s hard to explain, but it’s weird. And I don’t like it.

So I’m trying it again. Vanilla Coconut Flour Cookies. Found here.

Not only are these clean, but they are also gluten free 🙂

I whipped them up quickly after dinner and was so excited to have a yummy healthy treat!!! And right before Halloween. Maybe I won’t splurge on candy this year…well, let be real.

They were…okay. Don’t get me wrong, they tasted good. The texture is something to get used to, especially for someone that’s never baked with coconut flour. But if you are someone like me that is used to sugar filled goodness, these will wake up your taste buds!

The texture is definitely different  from any baked thing I’ve ever made, but don’t let this discourage you, try, try again.

Vanilla Coconut Flour Cookies (adapted from The Prudent Wife)

3/4 cup coconut flour, sifted
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup melted coconut oil (you can also use butter)
1 cup coconut milk
6 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1-2 Tbsp honey (more if you want the cookies sweeter)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a food processor, beat the eggs thoroughly. Add coconut milk and honey. Pulse a few times until combined.
Add coconut oil and pulse until combined.
Add dry ingredients and pulse gently until combined.

Taste your ‘dough’ to see if you like it. If it’s not sweet enough, add some more honey.

Bake for 20 minutes

All ingredients mixed together!

The finished product!

Add-ins:

When adding the dry ingredient, mix in:
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
Dashes of ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, and cloves, to taste.
Top with a few chocolate chips before baking.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispy Bar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I tried to get this recipe out at the end of last week, but clearly just ran out of time. So, I will continues with my Pumpkin week today… I hope you don’t mind 🙂

On Friday, I made a meal for some friends that just had their fourth baby. A girl…they actually have four girls now! But, really, they are just trying to hold up the girl end of all these new babies. Seriously, there are lots and lots of boys going on here.

I knew what meal I wanted to make them. I grabbed some salad and dressing from the store and was well on my way. Except for dessert. I really wanted to practice more cakes, but ran out of time. Last week was so busy, I could even imagine baking and frosting another cake. But I also didn’t want to make it look like I just threw this meal together in a day. (maybe a day and a half…lol)

I knew I had lots of bags of marshmallows on my pantry shelf in the basement, since I went on an accidental marshmallow shopping spree a few weeks back. I also had a new box of rice krispies from a good sale at the local grocery store. So obviously, rice krispy bars were on my mind, but again, it sounded too boring to me at the time. (when I male something for someone, I can’t make it easy…its the OCD coming out in me)

Lucky for me, I remembered a recipe that I pinned on Pinterest for pumpkin spice rice krispy bars. It was the perfect dessert. Not too messy for the little girls that I knew would eating these, but also a little more sophisticated for the grown ups.
The original recipe, found here, has you ‘brown’ the butter before adding the marshmallows. I say forget that…do it the easy way and just melt it all together like you normally do. Add the rice krispies and ‘tada’! You have a masterpiece fit for a king..or at least an adult.

This a great recipe to get the kind involved in too. If you have small children, using the stove would be a not so good idea, they could definitely help press the rice krispy mixture into the pan.

So without further ado…here’s the recipe and some lovely pictures to go with it 🙂

Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispy Bars (adapted from Cookies and Cups)

6 cups rice krispies
10.5 bag marshmallows
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Melting butter, marshmallows and pumpkin spice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pour rice krispies into a large bowl; set aside.
In a medium sauce pan, melt butter, marshmallows and pumpkin pie spice.
Once it’s melted, pour the marshmallow mixture into the bowl with rice krispies. Mix well.
Pour into a greased 9×13 pan. Pat down with greased hands.
Let sit until completely cooled; cut and enjoy!

Can you see the pumpkin pie spice mixed in there?

Clean Eating Pumpkin Banana Oat Muffins

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s a good day here in the good ‘ol state of Wisconsin! Besides the fact that I woke up with my hubby at 3am, my nose won’t stop running (I just can’t seem to catch it!), and I ate way too much ‘un-clean’ food last night, it IS a good day. Three reasons why I am happy about today:
1. It’s Friday!
2. I get a short break from my kids this weekend, starting today! (don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my kids, but they have been driving me crazy this week!)
3. THE PACKERS WON LAST NIGHT!

Yeah, I’m pretty excited about all them. I guess the excitment was just too much for me this morning. My body told me to sleep, and my nose told me no.

So what did I do with my extra 3 hours before the kids get up? I baked! (what else would I do…geez!) Since we will be gone tonight and all day tomorrow, I wanted to use up some food I had. Namely, about a half can of pumpkin puree and some bananas. I decided on muffins and then just needed to find a recipe to use. I searched Pinterest, but shockingly didn’t find anything on my ‘boards’. So I went straight to my recipe box. (I know what you’re thinking, “who still uses a recipe box?’ I do. So deal with it)
I found a couple recipes for banana oat muffins, and oatmeal applesauce, and I figured I could just add the small amount of pumpkin in and it wouldn’t change the consistency that much. But I kept looking and stumbled upon Pumpkin Banana Oat Muffins! How perfect is that! It was meant to be. Fate, if I may.
I looked through all the ingredients and I.had everything, except sucanat and oat bran. Easy peasy. I substituted honey for sucanat and ground flax for oat bran. I was on my way to a delicious and healthy breakfast for my children and I.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clean Eating Pumpkin Banana Oat Muffins
Yield: 18 muffins

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup ground flax
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp allspice or nutmeg
1 medium banana, mashed
1/2 can of pumpkin puree
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
4 egg whites*
1 Tbsp wheat germ or more ground flax
1/2 cup honey

Forgive my 4am photography…and my ‘drugs’ in the background..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line muffin tins.
In large bowl, whisk together flour, oats, flax, baking powder and soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice/nutmeg.
Add mashed banana, pumpkin, applesauce, egg whites, wheat germ and honey. Whisk until smooth.
Use a spoon to distribute batter evenly to lined tins.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Cool on wire rack.
These are great for freezing and using as a quick breakfast. Let thaw for 30 minutes or reheat in microwave for about 30 seconds. (that is a total guesstimate for microwaving time)

Note: If you don’t have wheat germ, just use 1 Tbsp more of ground flax. I’m sure you could use more flour or oats as well. Don’t let the little things keep you from eating clean!

*I hate wasting things, so I froze my egg yolks to use in the future for ice cream!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Forgive me for the classy phone pic of the this pumpkin bar. (yes, it was done on my Pyrex lid) It’s the only thing I had to take a picture with. At least of the end result.

So, it’s almost fall. Ahh.. I wish it lasted longer. It is, by far, my favorite time of year. My husband and I were married on the first day of Autumn almost six years ago now. The colors of the trees. The smell of leaves and baking. Oh, and did I mention Pumpkin Spice Lattes??? Have I mentioned I have an love obsession with pumpkin….anything. Pumpkin bars. Pumpkin bread. Pumpkin coffee. Pumpkin creamer (for the coffee!). Pumpkin smoothies. The color, pumpkin. Pumpkin. Pumpkin. PUMPKIN!!!!!!!! (you know how when you repeat the same word over and over it looks funny. Pumpkin just did that for me..lol)

So, as you may guess, there will many more pumpkin recipes before the season is through (and it hasn’t even started yet!!!!)

I made these for a picnic with our Sunday School class. There were many treats there, including some Pina Colada Cupcakes. Thank you Franci!!! They were delicious! (as were all the others..there were just too many to name!)

Besides being easy to make, they feed a lot of people. Unless you’re me and eat half the pan first…okay, maybe not half the pan…but I ate quite a few! Seriously though.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars (from Eat Live Run)

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
3 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 Tbsp  heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
24 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

For graham cracker crust:

18 graham crackers (two sleeves from the box)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar

Graham crackers, melted butter and sugar

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place graham cracker in a resealable bag and crush using a rolling pin or your hands. I’ve always found this to be the best technique.
When the cracker are coarse crumbs, pour them in to a medium bowl. Add the sugar and melted butter and mix well. Pat into a 15×17 inch jelly roll pan, lined with parchment paper. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove and reduce heat to 325 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, cream and vanilla.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together cream cheese, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt. Beat until light and fluffy. (I used my whisk attachment for extra fluffiness!) Slowly add the pumpkin mixture, mixing until there are no lumps and the mixture is perfectly smooth,

Pour batter onto prepared crust. Bake for 50 minutes or until edges begin to pull away slightly. Let cool completely before cutting and serving.

Garnish with either homemade whipped cream, redi-whip, or cool whip. Whatever your preference.

Before being baked

Enjoy!

After being baked

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

The weather lately has been playing with my emotions. It was so unbearably hot for what seemed like forever that I thought fall would never come. Don’t worry, I am mot wishing away summer! We had some cool days with rain which put me in the mood for scarves, boots, and anything pumpkin related. Food, drinks, the color, you name it, I like it. So, now its hot again. The a/c is on and the windows are shut (which is fine with me since my allergies are terrible this time of year), but I’m still craving fall. The apples, pumpkins, scarves, and boots. Well, this afternoon I couldn’t take it anymore! I had to make something pumpkin! And thank you Pinterest for helping me find that something. You see, I had a plain chocolate protein shake on the menu for this afternoon, but got hungry too early for it. So I decoded to hunt my Pinterest boards to find a shake or smoothie that would be more filling. And here it is folks! It’s tasty. Satisfying. And reeks of fall! (okay, maybe reek isn’t the right word, jut you get my drift)

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

1/2 banana
1/3 cup pumpkin puree (no sugar added)
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt (would be yummy with vanilla too)
3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 packet stevia (or sweetener of choice)
A few shakes of pumpkin pie spice
4-5 ice cubes

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Enjoy!