Pumpkin Bread

Look at this! Two recipes in the same week! I'm on fire! Haha. I know you might be getting tired of all the pumpkin things that are being posted everywher this year, but I'm all caught up in it, too. I'm addicted to pumpkin spice for some reason this year. Have you all seen the pumpkin spice Hershey's Kisses? So, so good! If you see them, you need to buy a bag. I might have bought one (or eight - not kidding) bags just before Halloween. I'm having to pace myself. Otherwise, I could seriously eat an entire bag in one sitting. They're that good. At least, that's what I think. TC would disagree with you.

So I've been wanting to make some pumpkin bread all Fall. A couple of weeks ago, I tried to make a healthy version that didn't have any butter or sugar in it. It was a great idea, but ended up in the trash. The think I was most disappointed about was wasting 1/2 of a cup of local honey that someone had given me. It was so good, I could have eaten it with a spoon. Anyway, I had to redeem myself and make some pumpkin bread worth eating. There are so many different recipes out there, I didn't know which one to try. I didn't want to make too much bread as I know who would be the one eating it all! So I looked in my trusty Fannie Farmer cookbook and found a simple and delicious recipe. The result was perfection! TC and Addison both loved it. Here is the recipe:

PUMPKIN BREAD
adapted from Fannie Farmer
Servings: 10
Points+: 7

1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1 c. sugar
1 t. baking soda
1 c. pumpkin purée
1/2 c. canola oil
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 c. water
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. ground cloves
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt, sugar and baking soda and mix until blended. In a medium bowl, combine the pumpkin, oil, eggs, water and spices. Mix until this is blended. Next, slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix until blended, but do not over mix. If using nuts, fold them in at this point.

Pour the batter into a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Turn the loaf out of the baking pan and allow to cool on a rack.

Enjoy!

So what are your must-have recipes for the Fall season? Do you prefer pumpkins or apples? I hope you all have a great weekend!

So long for today...

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Happy Friday everyone! We made it through another week! This one was a quick one for me, so not too bad. The temperature took a nose dive over the last few days and Fall has definitely arrived in my neck of the woods. But it's supposed to warm back up a little bit next week to more seasonable temperatures. The weather has been relatively beautiful though! Blue skies and sun as far as you can see. We get a little bit of rain here and there, but I can put up with a little bit of that!

So since Fall is in full swing, I thought I would share my recipe for Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes. I tried a Pumpkin Spice cupcake at a local cafe a few weeks ago and knew that I would have to make some of my own. The flavors were so delicious and the frosting was so light. Definitely not the regular buttercream that I'm used to. So I turned to Pinterest of course! The cupcakes are based based on this recipe at SkinnyTaste and the frosting is from Can You Stay For Dinner.

PUMPKIN SPICE CUPCAKES
Servings: 24
Points+: 3

French Vanilla Cake Mix
2 t. Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 c. canned 100% pure pumpkin
1 c. water
1 egg white

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake wrappers.

Combine cake mix and pumpkin spice in a large bowl. Add pumpkin puree, water and egg white, mix about 2 minutes.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake about 20 - 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

WHIPPED VANILLA PUMPKIN SPICE FROSTING
1 cup milk
5 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar (not powdered sugar)
1/2 t. pumpkin spice

In a medium saucepan, whisk one cup of milk with 5 tablespoons of flour. Heat over medium until the mixture begins to sputter, whisking constantly. Continue to stir as the mixture thickens. You will know it’s done when it reaches the consistency of thick cake batter, after about 7 minutes of heating and whisking. Stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and set aside to cool COMPLETELY.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or using a hand held mixer, beat 2 sticks of softened butter (1 cup) with 1 1/4 cups of granulated sugar and pumpkin spice until light, fluffy, and white in color, about 3 solid minutes of beating on medium-high speed. You want the sugar to be totally incorporated into the butter.

Be sure that the milk/flour mixture has completely cooled, and add it to the butter/sugar mixture. Beat all ingredients for about 1 minute on high speed, scraping down the bowl halfway, until they are smooth and well blended. The frosting should be as light and fluffy as whipped cream.

Frost each cupcake and ENJOY!!

So 5 points for a cupcake. That's not too bad, right? Especially one that is this delicious. Trust me. You need to try these. You won't regret it!

I'm linking up with some awesome ladies today for That's Fresh Friday!  Go check them out!  

<div align="center">

<a title="Prototype Mama" href="http://www.prototypemama.com/"><img alt="Prototype Mama" src="http://www.prototypemama.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/SGBC-THATS-FRESH-BUTTON1.png"></a></div>

So long for today...