Pumpkin Muffins

Okay...I'm officially the worst CEiMB member! I can not keep up with life, much less blogging. Needless to say, it has been yet another month since I've participated...but today when I realized that I had all of the ingredients on hand for this week's recipe (chosen by Oddball Oven Mitt) and a little extra time, I jumped at the chance.

The muffins are a perfect match for a cool fall morning and a warm cup of coffee. They aren't overly sweet, making them a great breakfast option...but I bet if you topped them with a little cream cheese frosting they would make delicious cupcakes.

Pumpkin Muffins

• Per serving - 205 calories, 7 g fat (1 g saturated), 32 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber, 5 g protein (exchanges: 2 starches, 1 fat; WW points: 4)
• Notes - I doubled the cinnamon, used maple syrup instead of molasses, swapped Greek yogurt for the buttermilk, and omitted the pumpkin seeds...the reviews said the spices were a little muted...the other changes were because of what I had and didn't have in the house; the recipe is supposed to yield 12 muffins, but after filling 12 I still had leftover batter...so as you can see in the pictures I filled 2 ramekins with about 2 muffins worth of batter...I guess I would have gotten about 16 regular muffins; if you have been reading this blog for a while you already know that my leftover muffins are now in a zip-top bag in my freezer

Pumpkin Spice Iced Coffee

I look forward to Autumn for several reasons...cooler weather (um, I'm waiting...where is it?), football, warm comfort foods (pot roast is #1 on my list), and Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes! I usually don't sweeten my coffee, but for this I have to make an exception (I do ask for only 1 pump of syrup though).

A few weeks ago I came across this recipe for a DIY Pumpkin Spice Latte...just like Starbucks! And while I haven't actually tried the recipe yet, it did inspire me to flavor my iced coffee with pumpkin spices! I just add pumpkin pie spice to the coffee grounds before I add water and then allow it all to steep overnight. If you don't have pumpkin pie spice, just use a mixture of any of the following: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves...go easy on the last 3 and heavy on the cinnamon.

I add about 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice to this recipe. Then for each individual drink, I add skim milk and sweeten with condensed milk...such a treat! Happy Fall!