Spiked Foodgasm: Pumpkin Spice Ale Muffins with a Spiced Glaze

Why is this a Foodgasm? 

It's fall and you all know how I am super stoked about pumpkin.... well now you can take that up 10 notches because I found a way to combine my love of pumpkin ale with my pumpkin baking!! I knew I had to create a recipe for pumpkin muffins, but then I remembered my Bluepoint Blueberry Muffins and I knew this needed some local craft pumpkin spice ale. But this time I added a little fat just to make them softer. I really like how the flavors are balanced well- I even used some lemon zest to brighten up the flavors so the spice didn't get lost, thanks to a tip from my friend Jenni at Pastry Chef Online. As if the muffins were not amazing enough already, I knew I wanted to just add another touch, so I created a simple glaze to drizzle over the top! Don't you just wanna lick your screen right now?

Here is how I lightened this- I used only an eighth cup of canola oil, nonfat Greek yogurt and pumpkin purée in place if some of the missing fat. The Greek yogurt and pumpkin keep these muffins nice and moist! With all the flavor and the texture you will NEVER know this was low fat!

For this recipe I used Southampton Pumpkin Ale.This craft beer, local to long island, has a nice balance of pumpkin and spice flavor while still retaining a nice hoppi-ness!

 

Beer Month Recipe Round-up Number 2 - Bluepoint Blueberry Muffins: A Fat Free Foodgasm

Why is this a Foodgasm?

I have always been a fan of Bluepoint Blueberry, it was one of my first favorites! So crisp and sweet, it just works so well with the taste of the beer. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner, but I finally connected the dots and made blueberry muffins with it! This pair was meant to be! The blueberry beer intensifies the overall blueberry flavor in the muffin, then I added 1 whole cup of blueberries!  

But I am not the BEST baker in the world, I thought I needed more experience to make my own muffins, then I found this great recipe for Homemade Cake Mix on i am baker. So I thought I am just gonna use this dry ingredient recipe and make these like I make my cupcakes with a beer and an egg- and it WORKED! Needless to say I was thrilled and I have to tell you they are AMAZING! Totally blueberry bliss and then to add more awesomeness I sprinkled them with some Turbinado Sugar. Did I mention they are FAT FREE!

Yup this was easy, fat free and sooooo good! That is a foodgasm my friends!

This is also Beer Month's LAST Recipe Round-up see links to all of my other #beermonthbloggers at the bottom of this post.