{Recipe Challenge} Caramel Pumpkin Pudding Cupcakes

I know I haven't been able to share many posts lately—life and work have truly gotten in the way this time, don't these people know I have a blog to maintain? Sheesh.

But you won't be annoyed with me after you read this recipe I'm about to share. If you haven't yet discovered it, caramel pumpkin pudding cupcakes change your life. I think of them very similarly to the slight addiction I have to Starbuck's salty caramel mocha frappuccino. (Which I always get in the light version and sans whipped cream because then it's not a sinful indulgence. Or at least that's what I tell myself when rolling through the coffee shop's drive-thru since my caramel eatin' self is too lazy to get out the car. Hmmm...)

Anyway, my brother-in-law's girlfriend brought these bad boys to dinner the other night. Thanks to some smart ingredient planning, they weigh in at about 108 calories apiece and two grams of fat. However, after stuffing my face femininely eating a small portion of the chicken and beef fajitas I made—along with Spanish rice, a vat of guacamole, white cheese queso and stuffed jalapeno peppers—I still managed to make room for not one, not two but three of them. In retrospect, perhaps I should lay off the caramel. And frappuccinos. And fajitas. And queso.

While I decide what diet I'm probably not going to adhere to (hello spin class tomorrow morning?), please enjoy these mouthwatering photos and a delectable recipe, which I've kindly typed up on a printable recipe card just for YOU!

Don't say I didn't ever give ya anything. 

;)