Pumpkin Muffins

I have decided to add an occasional recipe posting to my normal weight loss updates.  I think a key to successful weight loss is to be able to eat things you really enjoy, but find ways of preparing those things in a lower fat and lower calorie way.

Once again...Pinterest to the rescue!  I have found many great recipes while browsing so today I'd like to share one.  It's fall time and I LOVE pumpkin recipes...pumpkin soup, pumpkin bars, pumpkin coffees, pumpkin cookies....you name it, if there's pumpkin in there I'm bound to love it.  Great, except for someone who is watching her caloric intake, things like pumpkin cookies can get me into trouble quickly!  So, seeing as how I'm newly back on the diet train I thought I should just avoid all things pumpkin to keep myself safe.

Untillllll I saw THIS post!  This my friends is a fat free pumpkin muffin.  The recipe seems so easy I had to give it a try.  Here's all you need:

1 spice cake mix (you can also use yellow or vanilla, but I used spice)
3/4 can canned pure pumpkin (15 oz. can size)
1 large egg white
1 cup water
nutmeg and cinnamon (I just shook a little in...probably about 1/2 tsp each)

Mix all of the ingredients together.  You can add more water if the batter is too thick, but I thought it was fine using 1 cup.  Spray your muffin tin with Baker's Joy (if you don't know what that is, GET SOME!  It's awesome!)  Add the batter to the muffin tin and bake at 375 for approximately 15 minutes.  Ovens vary, so test one before you shut the oven off!

After I took mine out of the oven I sprayed the tops with a little "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" spray (you know you just said that with a Fabio accent....) and then sprinkled the tops with a cinnamon sugar mix.  There's probably less than 1/2 tsp. on each one, but it adds a little something!

Now, I know someone's wondering (that is, if anyone reads this blog) what the nutrition is like on these babies.  Well, I plugged all of the ingredients into my BodyBugg program and here's what it told me!

1 muffin
182 calories
2.9 grams protein
36.3 grams carbohydrates
3 grams fat

The original post indicated it was a fat free recipe, but there's a little fat in the pumpkin, and I figure 3 grams of fat in a muffin is pretty good, compared to a standard blueberry muffin, which packs in (on average) 27 grams of fat and over 500 calories.

As any decent cook would, I tested one to make sure the recipe was blog-worthy and it totally passed the test!  I thought these were great, and am really looking forward to enjoying one tomorrow morning with my coffee!