Leisure

Pumpkin Muffins

From Cooking Light, here's a healthy way to enjoy fall's favorite vegetable —the pumpkin. Make these light, tasty muffins and tuck a few in your backpack to enjoy as you stalk the city's elusive ghosts.

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 3/4 cup fat-free sour cream
• 1/3 cup fat-free milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg white
• Cooking spray
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 11/2 teaspoons brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (sugar through salt) in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Combine pumpkin and next 6 ingredients (sour cream through egg white); add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Spoon the batter into 18 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Combine 1 tablespoon granulated sugar and brown sugar; sprinkle over muffins. Bake for 25 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove muffins from pans immediately; cool on a wire rack. Yield: 18 muffins.