Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing and Coconut

Happy early Halloween everyone!

I made these pumpkin muffins a few days early JUST in case you were looking for that last minute pumpkin recipe before Halloween.

I'm sure some of you are pumpkin and apple'd out, but October is not over yet friends.
These pumpkin muffins are good for you, very filling, and full of spice. They are good for any occasion, and the cream cheese icing and shredded coconut add a very nice touch. I brought some for my sister and her boyfriend, and they each ate two on the spot.

I was in a festive mood, so I decorated a few with a Halloween theme.

This recipe yields 16-18 muffins.

Pumpkin Muffins
- 1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour, sifted
- 1/2 cup of all purpose flour, sifted
- 1 cup of brown sugar
- 1 tsp of baking powder
- 1/2 tsp of baking soda
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp of nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp of all spice
- 1/4 tsp of ground clove
- 1 cup of pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup of milk
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup of vegetable oil
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- sweetened shredded coconut to garnish

Cream Cheese Icing- 1 (8oz, 250g) package of light cream cheese at room temperature
- 1/4 cup of butter at room temperature
- 1 cup of icing sugar
- 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
- 1 vanilla pod

Method for Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing and Coconut

Make the Pumpkin Muffins:1. Preheat the oven to 350F/175C.

2. In one bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and dry spices together. In another bowl, mix the pumpkin, milk, egg, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and ginger together. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix well with a fork.

3. Line a muffin tray with baking cups. Spoon the muffin mixture into the baking cups until they are 3/4 full. Repeat until all the muffin mixture is used up.

4. Bake the muffins for 18-22 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside until they are fully cool.

Make the Cream Cheese Icing:
1. With an electric mixer on high speed, mix the butter and cream cheese until smooth.

2. Slowly add in the icing sugar while mixing.

3. Add the vanilla extract. Cut a vanilla pod in half, and scrape the vanilla seeds into the icing. Mix until evenly distributed.

Assemble the Muffin:
1. Using a butter knife, smear a thin layer of icing over top of the muffins.

2. Place the muffin on top of a plate, and sprinkle shredded coconut over top of the muffin until completely covered. Tip the muffin upside down to allow any loose coconut pieces to fall off.

Using low fat cream cheese for the icing will result in a slightly thinner consistency. If you want a think and creamy icing, it is best to use full fat cream cheese.

Here are some of the Halloween muffins I made:

For the next little while, you will have to excuse my posts. I have such a large backlog of travel posts, I'm not sure where to start and finish! I just got back from a short trip to Boston, so stay tuned for a mish mash of posts from Ottawa, Sydney, New Zealand, and Boston.