These muffins are darling and deliciously spicy for fall. The best part about them? They’re lowfat and (I like to think) good for you!  I found the muffin recipe online and adapted it to suit my tastes – namely adding the cream cheese and crunchy topping. I love a good streusel topping but with this lowfat muffin, I didn’t want to add the extra butter and sugar a traditional streusel would add. So, I decided to try it with Kashi cereal. It was the perfect “streusel” topping without adding all the extra unwanted calories/fat to hips – er- I mean – muffin!

Mini Lowfat Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese filling

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp table salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp pumpkin spice
• 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup fat-free egg substitute
• 2/3 cup fat-free skim milk
• 1/3 cup fat-free cream cheese
• 3 Tbsp powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup Kashi GOLEAN Crunch! cereal

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Coat a mini muffin tin with cooking spray or line with cupcake wrappers, if desired.  (You may also use a 12 cup muffin tin as well)
2. Combine flour, baking powder, salt , baking soda, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl.
3. Combine applesauce, pumpkin, sugar, egg substitute and milk in a medium bowl; mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon.
4. Add applesauce mixture to flour mixture and mix until completely incorporated.
5. Combine cream cheese and powdered sugar.
6. Pour batter into muffin tins so each hole is about 2/3 full.
7. Drop approx 1/2 t of cream cheese mixture onto the top of each muffin and sprinkle with Kashi cereal.
8. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.