Pumpkin Walnut Muffins with Pumpkin “Cream Cheese”

Have you all seen the travelling Chobani Oven Mitt that is travelling around to several AMAZING Bloggers as part of the Chobani Recipe Challenge?  This holiday season, the peeps over at Chobani wanted to share a little Greek Yogurt Lovin’ and give the gift of Chobani to bloggers across the blogosphere. FUN!!!!!!

It all started with Brandi of Bran Appetit and her delicious sounding Pumpkin Dip.

Brandi passed it along to one of my most favorite people in the world ~ Holly, The Healthy Everythingatarian.  Holly just made me drool with her Peanut Butter Banana Frozen Yogurt Pops.

Holly passed the mitt onto Janetha of Meals and Moves.  I LOVE Janetha, her pups, her recipes, her workouts ~ she is my favorite too :D.  She showed us that Chobani doesn’t have to be all sweet, but, it can be SAVORY too with her Stuffed Mushrooms!

However, quite possibly the COOLEST thing of all ~ Janetha said the nicest things ever in her Nothing But Good post and picked me to pass the mitt along and to whip up a recipe using the BEST Greek Yogurt EVER!  So COOL 😀

It’s a pretty tall order to fill to be able to cook in the kitchen with these ladies, but, I LOVE Chobani for breakfast or as a snack, as a topper to my chili and taco salads, in sauces and soups, to make creamy sauces in pasta….The list goes on ~ it’s good stuff.

One of the BEST uses I have found for Greek Yogurt is to use it as a FAT SUBSTITUTE in recipes.  It boosts protein and makes muffins moist and sauces/dips extra creamy.  I have been thinking about PUMPKIN a lot lately and decided it’s about time that I whip up a batch of Pumpkin Walnut Muffins.

 

PUMPKIN WALNUT MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup oat bran

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/4 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin-pie spice*

1 tsp  baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup canned pumpkin

6 ounces Chobani 0% Greek yogurt

1/4 cup agave

1/2 cup egg substitute

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup roasted walnuts, chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375°.  Spray a 12 cup muffin pan with nonstick spray.

2.  Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine your dry ingredients, flour through salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.

3.  Combine pumpkin and the next 4 ingredients (through oil) in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.  Fold in walnuts.  Spoon batter into muffin cups until 2/3’s full.  I use my ice cream scooper to ensure all my muffins are the same size.

4.  Bake at 375° for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center.  Cool muffins in pans 5 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes 12 Large Muffins, 6 points+ each, 5 points+ if you omit the walnuts

Nutritional information per muffin, including walnuts 

STEP-BY-STEP

The secret to making your muffins POP with walnut flavor is to roast them in the oven before you add them to the mix.  After the oven preheats, roast at 375 on muffin pan for 8 minutes.

Combine your dry ingredients.

Then, whisk wet ingredients until combined.

Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients.

Mixing just until combined.

Fold in the dry roasted, chopped walnuts.

I have an ice cream scooper I bought just for making muffins and cupcakes.  It holds about a 1/2 cup and helps to make sure you evenly distribute the batter in the pan.

You could make “smaller muffins” by filling the pan with 1/3 cup of batter and save on points+, but, I like bigger muffins.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes until golden.  Cool in pan for 5 minutes.

Then, move to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

I honestly think these Pumpkin Walnut muffins are FANTASTIC by themselves, but, I wanted to see if I could make them taste even better.  What goes better with a moist, nutty pumpkin muffin, then, some homemade Pumpkin Spice “Cream Cheese”?! 

You can create your own homemade cream cheese easily by straining Greek Yogurt to create yogurt cheese, cream cheese. 

 

PUMPKIN SPICE “CREAM CHEESE”

INGREDIENTS

6 ounces Chobani 0% Greek Yogurt

1/4 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp pure vanilla

2 Tbsp raw honey

NOTE: You could combine 1/4 cup Homemade Pumpkin Butter in place of the pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla and honey.

INSTRUCTIONS

1.  Strain yogurt in a strainer lined with cheese cloth, overnight, about 24 hours.  If desired, strain pumpkin at the same time to remove addition water.

2.  Whisk everything together for the perfect cream cheese substitute.

NOTE: If you would like your cream cheese thicker, simply strain in the fridge again. 

Makes 3/4 cup or Six 2 Tbsp servings, 1 points+ each

Nutritional information per 2 Tablespoon serving

STEP-BY-STEP

Place a small strainer/colander in a medium bowl.

Cover strainer with cheesecloth, 2 paper towels or coffee filters.

Add 6 oz *1 container) Chobani 0% Greek Yogurt

Cover and return to fridge.  Allow to “strain” for 24 hours to make “cream cheese”.

The liquid on the bottom is actually “Whey”, the protein.  Use it in your smoothies or discard it.

Add your cream cheese to a medium mixing bowl along with the pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract and honey.

Use a whisk to combine on low speed only.  Over mixing will make it to thin.

Tadah!  That is it ~ a huge bowl of homemade  Pumpkin Spice “cream cheese”.  Light, fluffy, creamy, pumpkin-y GOOD!

The last requirement of receiving the Chobani mitt is to pass it along to another blogger who i think is nothing but good.

I pick Marisa of Loser For Life!  I have know Marisa for as long as I have been blogging.  She was one of the very first Weight Watchers Bloggers I ever met and I just LOVE her.  She has lost over 67 lbs and continues to maintain that loss.  I LOVE that she is honest, funny, outgoing, REAL (she shares her good and not so good moments), but, more than anything that she is passionate about life and her health.  She is constantly challenging herself (including running her first half marathon this year!) and showing me that you can be successful at any age no matter what life throws your way.  She is truly an inspiration and honestly to me, is nothing but good!

Be on the lookout as I know she will be whipping up a deliciously healthy Chobani Recipe with this Oven Mitt soon!

A special thanks to Chobani for the free yogurt and fun opportunity to participate in such a great activity. i love this community and being a part of it!

Check in with Chobani on Facebook after the New Year and to explore even more delicious creations and healthy inspirations by everyone in the Recipe Challenge. One lucky fan will even win a special Chobani Kitchen prize pack of their very own, including an inspiring blogger oven mitt.

PHEW!  I promise….that’s all I am typing tonight 😀

OK, WAIT, one more thing ~ I want to give you all the Gift of Chobani so check back tomorrow a  CHOBANI GIVEAWAY!

Q’s

What is your FAVORITE type of muffin?

I used to think Banana Nut topped the charts, but, these Pumpkin Muffins are so delicious I think they may have changed my mind.  I am pretty sure I heard them call my name to have another 😉

Night all!