Skinny Pumpkin Muffins

I suppose these fall more into the autumn muffin category, but it's still cold and wet here, so they sounded good.  The Girl helped me make them this morning and they are YUM-O! 

Here's the recipe with my notes:

2 C all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 C pumpkin puree
1/4 C milk
Sunflower seeds, optional

(I had an open jar of Pumpkin Butter from Trader Joe's that I used.  It's basically pumpkin and spices.  It smells just like pumpkin pie.  So I figure you could use plain canned pumpkin or the canned pumpkin that already has spices in it.  I still used the spices the recipe calls for as well.  I ended up using a splash more milk because the batter was super thick.  I also didn't have any sunflower seeds.  I was going to put sliced almonds on top instead, but I forgot.)

1.  Whisk the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt.  Set aside.  Fit a regular muffin pan with liners.  Preheat oven to 400.

2.  Beat the butter until creamy, then beat in the sugar.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each.  Gently fold in the pumpkin puree and the milk.  Add the flour mixture and blend into batter.

3.  Divide batter among the 12 muffin cups and sprinkle with sunflower seeds.  Bake until muffins are puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes (mine were done in 20).  Serve warm or at room temperature.

For anyone keeping track, this recipe came with the stats per muffin:  200 calories, 27g carbs, 4g protein,
55mg cholesterol, 1g fiber, and 9g fat.


Here they are: