Last week I decided I needed a treat and stopped in Starbucks for an iced coffee and one of their mini cupcakes. I tried the salted caramel and was pretty disappointed. It did not taste like salted caramel at all. The cake was dense and had a weird taste and the icing was like peanut butter flavored paste. Weird. Well, I had plans to recreate a mini chocolate and salted caramel cupcake, but my plans changed when some sweet lady gave me some canned pumpkin (after hearing me harp on and on about how I can't find any pumpkin at the store yet). So, I thought another Starbucks inspired treat was in order.
I love a pumpkin spiced latte. I mean, who doesn't?
Enter the pumpkin spiced latte mini muffins. These were awesome and really captured the drink's flavors. I healthy-fied them a little, so I am calling them "skinny." Although eating 6 of them probably won't do anything for one's own skinniness. Not that I'm speaking from experience...
Ok, so here's what you need to make these little gems:
Skinny Mini Pumpkin Spice Latte Muffins
Yield: about 42 min cupcakes
For the cupcakes:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tbsp. espresso powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
heaping 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch grated nutmeg
pinch. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup or ½ (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 large eggs
optional—brewed coffee for brushing
Topping:
Fat free Redi Whip
Sugar free caramel sundae syrup
Pumpkin pie spice
Directions:
To make muffins, preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray your mini muffin pan with non stick spray. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Stir together and set aside. In another bowl, blend together the pumpkin, granulated sugar, brown sugar and applesauce. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.
Fill the mini muffin vessels almost full—I used my cookie scoop about ¾ full of batter for each muffin. Bake until the muffins are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 12-13 minutes. While the muffins are still warm, brush them two times with the brewed coffee, allowing the first coat to soak in before repeating. Let cool completely.
Top each muffin with Redi Whip, caramel drizzle and sprinkle of pumpkin pie spices. Once you have put the topping on, you will want to serve them immediately because that canned whipped cream gets weepy after sitting at room temperature for longer than 5 minutes. Maybe tub whipped topping would be better if you don’t want to serve immediately. These muffins are great without topping, too!
Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats
Renee, thank you for your interest in participating in my Monday dessert linky party. There's just a few basic blog etiquette guidelines to follow, like keeping with the dessert theme, linking to your post, linking back to my blog and visiting some of the fellow participants. That's all there is to it. I look forward to your dessert recipes and getting to know you each week. Have a great one. :-)
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