I have long hankered for just the thing to eat on Thanksgiving morning. It needs to be quickly and easily whipped up and served to the non-cooks who then need to go for a walk, go watch the parade, or do whatever they want, but most importantly, get out of the kitchen! Serious business is afoot.
Ah, pumpkin muffins. The thing is, I baked my way through four recipes that I found and didn’t like any of them. First of all, I feel strongly that they need to be really pumpkiny. Some had applesauce in lieu of some of the pumpkin and then they weren’t appropriately orange and that kind of defeated the whole point as far as I’m concerned. A couple called for cream cheese frosting on top. Now to me, that turns them into a cupcake, and I’m really not a proponent of cupcakes for breakfast. Not that I don’t want a party going on up top…I most assuredly do! Some of them made mingy little things. Not good enough. I want a big, bold muffin….big enough, in fact, to keep them out of my hair until time for THE MEAL.
As I baked my way through all of these pretenders to the crown, I realized I also don’t like things that are just too sweet for breakfast. Spicy yes, sickly sweet no. Anyway, with all of that in mind, I have created what is for me, the quintessential answer to what to make that will keep them out of your hair till the main event. It smells and tastes like Thanksgiving, so nicely sets the stage for the rest of the day. You can pop in them in the oven in no time and turn yourself to other pressing issues. And you needed to preheat the oven anyway, right? Try ‘em and let me know what you think!
Clare’s Pumpkin Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
½ Cup unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
½ C. dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1Tablespoon maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
One 15 ounce can of pureed pumpkin
1 ¼ Cup Whole wheat flour
1 ¼ Cup All purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling at the end
½ tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. ground allspice
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
½ tsp. salt
1 Tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons white sugar for sprinkling on top
¼ Cup pumpkin seeds or pepito
Preheat oven to 350.
Combine butter and brown sugar and stir to combine. Add eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla and mix well. Add Pumpkin and mix well. From this point on, you want to mix as little as possible, as over mixing will make your muffins tough. Add whole wheat, A.P. flour, spices, salt and baking powder to liquids and mix only to combine. Don’t worry about the odd lump…it won’t make any difference at all.
Put paper liners in muffin tin and divide batter between cups. Sprinkle generously with additional ground cinnamon, sugar and pumpkin seeds. Bake for 35 minutes or until nicely browned and crunchy on top. Happy Thanksgiving!