Pumpkin Custard Cups

Okay, so a bit of warning before I get into this recipe.  I don't each much sweet food anymore; a bit of fruit every now and again (though less now that we're moving away from summer).  For this reason, it doesn't take much for me to think something is sweet.  I also rarely crave "sweet" food these days (hooray for conquering the sweet demon!) and don't generally eat foods that encourage my dormant sweet tooth (although I will probably indulge in the chocolate cake I'm planning for my dear husband's birthday...but that'll be another post for another day).  Pumpkin and coconut are naturally sweet ingredients to me, so I didn't add any additional sweetener.  Depending upon your taste, you might add some fruit (pureed (ripe) banana or dates) or other sugar (honey, maple syrup, coconut crystals, etc. -- maybe 1 -2 T).

Anyway, pumpkin is a quintessential fall food in my mind.  I love it from October through December (okay, any time of the year really, but especially so this time of the year:)).  With all of the lovely pumpkins in the store, and a crisp to the air (finally), I couldn't help but make something that makes the most of one of my favorite vegetables.  This recipe is super-duper easy AND tastey (at least I thought so).  In my mind, a perfect breakfast (with a side of buffalo andouille sausage) and I can't wait for breakfast again tomorrow.

Ingredients:

• 1 can pumpkin (15 oz can or about 1.5-2 cups mashed pumpkin; make sure if you get the canned kind the only ingredient is pumpkin)
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup coconut butter (you want it to be softened, but not melted...think room temperature butter)
• 1/2 cup coconut milk (if you use the canned kind, you want the "cream" portion that rises to the top if you don't shake the can)
• 1-3 Tbs cinnamon (yes, I really love cinnamon!)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp each, ground: nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and cardamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees (don't worry, we'll turn it down!).
2. Mix ingredients together until they are all completely combined (you want them mixed up well so that you have a pie consistency, and don't get chunks of "scrambled eggs").
3. Pour into muffin cups (I got  6 very full muffin cups).  You could put this into a pie pan (you'll probably need to adjust your baking time), but I wanted a "grab and go" breakfast this week.
4. Put in the oven at bake for 10 minutes.  Then, turn down the oven to 350 degrees and bake another 40 minutes or so.  When your knife comes out clean, your cups are done.  Note:  your oven may well cook differently.  You may want to check the doneness after 30 minutes or so.
5. Let cool before attempting to remove from the muffin pans (unless you don't care what it looks like...which I didn't when I wanted to taste one this morning).