Blog

By Noor Nouaillati, Recent ASU Nutrition Student

It’s that time of year where all the grocery stores, coffee shops and even on campus are bringing back pumpkin spice latte. Pumpkin desserts and pumpkin drinks have always been an all-time favorite of mine during any season of the year. The rich, sweetness and spiciness it carriers is so delicious that you need to keep it around. This is a recipe that I have been making during Thanksgiving when my family and I get together and they all request this dessert. I was so obsessed with Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin that I would make a stop every day before and after class or work to get one but then I decided to make it on my own.

The pumpkin mixture consists of 2 sticks of unsalted butter to a saucepan and is melted over medium-low heat. I use plain puree for the pumpkin puree and I typically use 2 cups. Once my butter is melted I then add the puree with it as well as pumpkin seasoning, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom. It gives you that aroma of the pumpkin spice and your mouth will start watering. Start to whisk it so it won’t separate and then add some water of hot boiling water and whisk thoroughly.

For the dry ingredients, I add flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine all the ingredients together. Then my wet ingredients consist of half a cup of buttermilk, two eggs, baking soda, and vanilla extract to eliminate that smell of the eggs. I then take my dry ingredients and my pumpkin mixture and combine them together and then start mixing them together and cover it completely making sure it is completely mixed evenly. Once that is done I then pour in my wet ingredients and do the same. You want to make sure there are no clumps and that it is smooth.

I get a muffin tin and either spray the muffin tin with olive spray or rub butter on the surface or place cupcake holders depending on what I want. Then I pour the mixture half way because you do not want to overfill. You want to bake this at 350 degrees for roughly 15-20 minutes and then check on it at 15 minutes.

When I take it out I let it cool down while I am making the cream cheese filling. Take a stick of unsalted butter and a full package of cream cheese. I added powdered sugar and a little vanilla extract and let it mix together until smooth. Then I will place the cream cheese icing on top of the cupcake and spread it evenly. I like to add some cinnamon sprinkle on top of the cupcake. Then it’s ready to serve. It is very delicious to eat alone or with a cup of coffee.

I hope you will try this with your family on Thanksgiving or any time of the year and enjoy it just as much as I enjoy making it.

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks of unsalted butter
• 2 cups of pumpkin puree
• 2 tablespoons of pumpkin spice
• half a cup of hot water
• 2 cups of flour
• 2 cups of sugar
• ¼ tablespoon of salt
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• baking soda
• vanilla extract
• 8 ounces of cream cheese
• 1 stick of unsalted butter
• powdered sugar

For more awesome recipes check out the Fill Your Plate recipe section. There are hundreds of recipes to choose from.