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While we miss out on the amber gold leaves of fall, we at least get to experience one of the best things about the season – the flavors. The flavors more than make up for the havoc that the Santa Ana’s cause my sinuses. One of those flavors is pumpkin.
I try to incorporate pumpkin into as many dishes as I can during the season: My oatmeal for breakfast in the morning, on my peanut butter sandwiches instead of jelly, or on a toasted croissant with some Nutella as a snack. I’ve even caught myself stealing a couple spoonfuls from the fridge.
When I’m shopping, I’m always on the look out for pumpkin flavored treats or things I can mix pumpkin with. I always have to watch myself when I walk through the bakery because during fall, pumpkin is everywhere in things that aren’t very friendly to my waistline.
The other day, when I was Shopping at Target, I saw a box for a Chai Latte cupcake mix by Archer Farm. An idea struck me… This would be a perfect to incorporate some pumpkin into because it pairs so wonderfully with cinnamon. I just had to figure out how.
The mix comes with two bags of dry ingredients, one for the chai latte cupcakes and one for the vanilla bean frosting. The cake mix requires you to have 1 large egg, 1/3 cup of vegetable oil, and 1/3 cup of milk. The frosting requires 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), and 1 Tbsp of milk. This combines to make about one dozen cupcakes. Pumpkin puree is a really great substitute for the vegetable oil, so it was the perfect way to add pumpkin to this recipe. It can be substituted at a 1:1 ratio, but make sure you are using pure pumpkin puree, not the pumpkin pie mix. I also used almond milk instead of regular milk because I prefer the taste and it’s easier on my stomach. I also figured that the earthiness of the almond would compliment the pumpkin and cinnamon. Almond milk can be substituted for regular milk at a 1:1 ratio as well.
Pumpkin is great to add in recipes because of it’s health benefits. In addition to its flavor, it is high in fiber as well as packed with vitamin A and vitamin C. It also contains riboflavin, potassium, copper and manganese. It is also low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. It is extremely versatile and also very affordable this time of year. On a side note, Pumpkin is also very good for your furry friends! It provides the same nutritional value to them, and it is GREAT for their coats.
The cupcakes came out extremely delicious. They were very moist and pretty spongey. While the consistency was a little different than you would expect from a cake, it was an insignificant difference in my opinion. The flavor more than made up for anything. The frosting also turned out pretty well. I liked that the mix came with dry ingredients for the frosting too. It’s as close to being homemade as you are going to get without mixing the ingredients yourself. The frosting was not overly sweet and the consistency wasn’t oily like your typical canned frosting. It didn’t taste processed either.
I was a little impatient once my cupcakes came out of the oven and I frosted them a little early. The frosting ended up melting 
off of the cupcakes, but it left a nice glaze on the cupcakes. It was messy to clean up, but it ended up working out in my favor! Now I don’t have to feel guilty about eating so much sugar. Let’s just call it intentional!
The pumpkin really did mix well with this cake mix. Because it is so versatile, I plan on continuing to incorporate pumpkin into as many dishes as I can this season. It is worth the flavor and the nutritional value. I encourage you to start using it in your dishes too! Please leave a comment below about how you like to use pumpkin in your dishes, or how you plan to use it in the future!
Thanks to our graphics guy Matt Hunter, for his pumpkin cupcake recipe and post. If you work with Leash Your Fitness, you MUST love Dogs and Pumpkin!!
