october is here!

Hooray! My favorite month is finally upon us, which means the best holiday of the whole year (Halloween, obviously) will be here before you know it! 

It also means I'm going to have my camera out a little more than usual to capture all the fun memories we make this season and bring them to you here in my new series, 

I hope you'll tune in to see some of the great activities we have found around the Dallas area and some of the "little joys" we want to remember each day with autumn rolling in.

To celebrate the dawn of October, last night on "October Eve" I made yet another batch of the irresistible pumpkin cream cheese muffins I found on Pinterest. 

Obviously this isn't a cooking blog, but they're just so good, I HAVE to share the recipe with you! I adapted it just a little bit, so instead of adding 1 1/4 cup of oil, I split it up between Greek yogurt, applesauce, and unrefined coconut oil (the "unrefined" version gives it a little sweet goodness). Last time I made them and used mostly Greek yogurt. They were a little too dense for my liking. I found this combination created a perfect texture and flavor. But you know, do whatever makes you happy. 

from See Brooke Cook

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Makes 24 muffins 

Ingredients:

For the filling:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

For the muffins:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 Tbsp + 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

4 large eggs

2 cups sugar

1 can pure pumpkin puree

½ cup applesauce

½ cup plain greek yogurt

¼ cup coconut oil (melted)

Directions:

Preheat oven to (I did convection bake) 350˚ F and line muffin tins with paper cups. 

Filling: combine cream cheese and powdered sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. 

In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients: flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda then whisk to blend.

In a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium-low speed combine the sugar, eggs, pumpkin puree, applesauce, greek yogurt, and coconut oil until blended. Turn the mixer to low and add in the dry ingredients, mix just until incorporated.

Fill each muffin cup with just enough batter to cover the bottom of each well (about 1-2 tablespoons). Scoop a small amount of the cream cheese mixture (about 1/2 tablespoon) on top of the batter, then top each with the remaining batter, covering the cream cheese completely.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool before serving (or not). 

You can thank me later.