Pumpkin Bread & Cinnamon Honey Butter

I love fall...I love everything about it...the smell, the weather, the leaves, and of course the food.  The boys and I went to discovery time at the library where we learned about apples and pumpkins.  Since it was the first day of fall, we embraced the theme.

• 15 oz can of pumpkin puree
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 2 cups white sugar
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 t baking soda
• 1 1/2 t salt
• splash of vanilla
• 1/4 t pumpkin pie spice
• 1 t nutmeg
• 1/2 t cloves
• 1/4 t ginger

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour three 7x3 bread pans.  (I used my bundt pan and had enough leftover for a few muffins.
2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and sugar until well blended.  In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger.  Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended.  Pour into prepared pans.
3. Bake for about 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

I usually put milk chocolate chips in my pumpkin bread...but the Mr is watching what he eats so I decided to make something more indulgent I could put on top.  Heaven forbid I eat it just plain...however, I did, and it's still delish.  In this case I added cinnamon honey butter.

• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 t ground cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy.  This is also delish on toast, bagels, muffins, pancakes, waffles, whatever your little heart desires.  :-)

Applesauce Muffins

My son struggles with his vegetables....let's be honest, he struggles with most food that isn't a chicken patty...  Muffins; however, look like cupcakes, and he thinks I'm the coolest mom ever if he gets to eat a 'cupcake' for breakfast...so thanks the Deceptively Delicious, I can sneak some veggies in there without him even knowing.

Topping:
2/3 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons trans-fat free soft tub margarine spread, melted

Batter:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup nonfat skim milk
1/2 cup butternut squash or carrot puree (just steam the veggie then put it in food processor, adding a little water if necessary to make it like paste)
1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 large egg

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with baking cups.
 

To make the topping, stir together the oats, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in the margarine.
 

To make the batter, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl or zipper-lock bag and stir or shake to mix. In a second bowl, mix the applesauce with the milk, vegetable puree, sugar, oil, and egg with a wooden spoon. Add the flour mixture slowly, stirring until just moistened. Do not overmix, the batter is supposed to be lumpy.
 

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle with the streusel topping. Bake until the topping is lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the muffins, 18 to 20 minutes. Turn the muffins out onto a rack and serve warm or cool.