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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, October 25, 2006

TASTE
Creamy pumpkin muffins are moist, thanks to orange

 •  Ming's dynasty

By Elaine Magee

These pumpkin cheesecake muffins were lightened up by cutting back on the sugar and adding whole-wheat flour to the mix.

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Q. I would love to make pumpkin cream cheese muffins but haven't seen a recipe for this. I want them to be super moist and full of flavor. I trust your lightening abilities much better than mine.

A. I'll be honest with you. I developed two different pumpkin cream-cheese recipes after reading your letter and they were good, but the pumpkin muffin part wasn't as good as I remember the orange pumpkin bread being from my column about a year ago. So I went back and used that orange pumpkin bread recipe as my muffin batter. I guess if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

In this batter, the moisture comes from an entire orange, which is pureed, plus 1/4 cup of margarine that's been fortified with plant sterols — the kind that is 7 or 8 grams of fat per tablespoon. Moisture also comes from orange juice and the canned pumpkin. I cut down on the sugar a bit and substituted whole-wheat flour for half of the flour. The cream-cheese mixture is made with a light cream cheese and as little powdered sugar and corn syrup as I could get away with.

If you don't want to use Splenda, just use 1 cup of granulated sugar instead of 1/2 cup. Garnish the muffins, if desired, by inserting a pecan half into the center.

Makes about 16 regular-sized muffins.

PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE MUFFINS

For the muffin batter:

  • 1 large orange

  • 1/4 cup less fat margarine (with 7 or 8 grams fat per tablespoon and no trans fats)

  • 1/2 cup sugar

  • 1/2 cup Splenda

  • 1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed

  • 1 large egg (higher omega-3 egg if available)

  • 1/4 cup egg substitute

  • 1 cup canned pumpkin

  • 1/3 cup orange juice

  • 1 cup whole-wheat flour

  • 1 cup unbleached white flour

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

  • 3/4 teaspoon salt

  • 1 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

    For the cream cheese topping:

  • 8 ounces light cream cheese

  • 2 tablespoons light corn syrup

  • 1 cup powdered sugar

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with muffin papers. Cut orange into wedges, and remove any seeds. Place orange wedges (peel and all) in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Set aside.

    In a large mixing bowl, beat less-fat margarine with sugar, Splenda and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and egg substitute one at a time. On low speed, beat in pumpkin, orange juice and the orange puree.

    Add flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice together in 8-cup measure and whisk to blend. Add flour mixture to orange mixture, stirring just until combined. Spoon batter by 1/4-cup fulls into muffin papers.

    For cream-cheese mixture, add cream cheese, corn syrup and powdered sugar to small mixing bowl, and beat until smooth. Drop a tablespoonful into the center of each muffin, pressing down gently so the cream cheese sinks a little.

    Bake for about 20 minutes (until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean). Once the muffins cool, keep them in an airtight bag or container in the refrigerator.

  • Per serving: 190 calories, 5 g protein, 35 g carbohydrate, 3.5 g fat, 1.1 g saturated fat, 1.2 g monounsaturated fat, 1.2 g polyunsaturated fat, 18 mg cholesterol, 3 g fiber, 303 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 17 percent. Omega-3 fatty acids, 0.2 g (depending on the margarine). Weight Watchers points, 3. Omega-6 fatty acids, 0.8 g (depending on the margarine).

    Elaine Magee is a registered home dietitian. Learn more at www.recipedoctor.com.