Pumpkin Muffins

cooking and food blogs are ripe with pumpkin-related recipes this time of year, so now it's my turn to add something. i'm not vegan, but i've been exploring more and more vegan blogs lately (out of boredom and curiosity) and have had luck with a vegan cranberry apple cake in the past. thought i'd try these, from the "post punk kitchen". normally i don't take any liberties or make substituions the first time i bake something, but i made some subs. THEY ARE AWESOME.  Perfect texture & consistency. Not super sweet. Perfectly replicates non-vegan baked goods - you wouldn't even know the difference.

Here's what I did:


Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups flour 
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar 
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup pureed pumpkin (fresh or from a can)
1 tablespoon vanilla soy yogurt
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon "ginger people" syrup + a little bit of molasses (original recipe calls for 2 tbs molasses, i wanted to try that syrup out! I found it at World Market for $2.99. You could probably leave it out altogether...)

1. Preheat oven to 400 F*. 
     *my oven runs hot, so i had mine set to about 325.
2. Grease muffin tins with vegetable shortening or spray on oil.   
3. Sift together dry ingredients (flour through cloves). 
4. In a separate bowl, wisk together wet ingredients (pumpkin through molasses). 
5. Pour wet into dry and combine. Fill muffin tins 2/3 of the way. 
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes, till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

I also whisked together some softened Neufchatel (1/3 less fat cream cheese), some pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice and powdered sugar to spread on top.  Kinda like this, but i really just threw things into a bowl...