Project Pinterest: Pumpkin Cupcakes

Ahh, Pinterest.  The site that is single-handedly responsible for ruining a well-intentioned evening of productivity.  To say that Pinterest is addicting is an understatement.  I can literally spend hours browsing the endless supply of inspiring, beautiful, and mouth-watering pictures and "pinning" away to my 29 (and counting) pin boards.  I have discovered tons of recipes, decorating ideas, craft projects, photography, and new blogs this way and several times a week add more pins (currently 594) to my idea boards.  I can't get enough.

Despite pinning almost 600 ideas, though, guess how many I've followed through with?  None.  Granted, some are just pictures I think are funny, or quotations, or photos of dream houses, but there are at least 100 that are project or recipe related.  I have this whole virtual idea box that I keep adding to but never actually using, so I decided it was time to change that.  Thus the idea for Project Pinterest was born.  The goal with this is to make/bake/sew/cook at least one thing I've pinned twice a month.  Those are the only rules.  I made them up.  I like simple games.

I completed my first Project Pinterest today, and I'm very pleased with the results.  I knew it was going to be cloudy, rainy and kind of chilly today and it was making me think of pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks.  I consulted Pinterest and pinned a recipe for pumpkin cupcakes from Skinnytaste.com.  Have you heard of this site??  I hadn't, but I'm pretty sure it's my new favorite site (besides you, Pinterest).  Gina, the author, makes delicious desserts, appetizers, main courses, drinks, and more that are low in fat, calories, and all the other bad stuff that we crave.  Her photos are amazing and she includes nutrition information and Weight Watchers points values for every single recipe.  I spent a long time browsing her site and ended up making our dinner menu for the week from it.

The recipe I used is Pumpkin Cupcakes with Pumpkin Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting.  Check it out for the full recipe--it's quick and easy and will make your entire house smell ahhh-mazing.  Also, if you're on Pinterest (and if not, join! You won't be sorry and it's free), follow Skinnytaste.  You can also follow me here or by clicking the Pinterest link on the right column of this page.

Verdict?  They're delicious.  And moist.  And dreamy.  And only two points (three with frosting).  I made the frosting but ended up not using it.  The cupcakes are really flavorful and work fine without it, plus my frosting ended up really runny and hard to spread.  I could have thickened it with powdered sugar, but the point of using this recipe was to eliminate as much sugar and calories and possible.  If you do plan on using frosting, you may want to decrease the amount of pumpkin puree you use--you can always add more if it's too thick.

I will be making these again, and soon.

Happy pinning!

~Stacy