Cooking Light Cream Cheese Frosted Pumpkin Muffins - & Loaves!

My Pampered Chef stoneware cupcake/muffin pan - the more I use it, the better it gets!

Putting my Williams-Sonoma Gold Touch Loaf pan to good use  - they popped right out!

Page 396!

Pumpkin Muffins (from the November 2006 issue of Cooking Light)  I added the cream cheese frosting and pecans!   And the Fall-colored jimmies for fun.   You can also find the recipe in the Cooking Light 2007 Annual Recipes book.

For the frosting, I used a package of Neufchatel cream cheese and added about a cup of confectioner's sugar and a little bit of skim milk to get a frosting consistency and a bit of sweetness.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 10 ounces)

• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup golden raisins
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• Cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• Directions:
• Preheat oven to 400
• Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. 
• Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, ginger, and salt in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk.
• Stir in raisins; make a well in center of mixture. 
• Combine brown sugar, canned pumpkin, buttermilk, canola oil, molasses, vanilla extract, and eggs, stirring well with a whisk. 
• Add sugar mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moist.
• Spoon batter into 18 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. 
• Sprinkle with granulated sugar.  (skip if you are going to frost)
• Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove muffins from pans immediately; cool on a wire rack.
• Add frosting and toppings if desired.