pumpkin muffin, originally uploaded by c(h)ristine.
I am supposed to be on a novel-writing crusade this month: 1,667 words a day (that’s a total of 50,000 words this month).
But ahem…what do I end up doing instead? BAKING! It didn’t help that this month’s issue of Gourmet was terribly appealing:
This month of Gourmet breaks the gloomy, moody look of recent covers (as Eric noted on Read Cook Eat not too long ago), and I love that it has a narrative quality to it. Who put the turkey on the (wonderful antique) stove? How long has it been sitting there? Whose kitchen is this? It’s easy for magazine covers to encroach upon “foodporn,” closeup shots of food (hello, and I am guilty of porno’ing my food). Plus, something about the lighting in this shot appeals to me.
Instead of writing, I opened up the magazine and read it. Who could resist? Who knew it was just one step in the road to temptation? I ran all the recipes through my head, tasting the imagined results. I had to write, I had to write my novel. But as I kept thumbing through the pages, I kept wanting to BAKE. And there it was: a simple recipe for pumpkin muffins, in the “You Asked For It” section.
I haven’t made muffins in years–and how ironic, considering that this blog is called “Muffin Top.” To top it off, there is not a single muffin recipe in our “Muffin Top” blog! Time to kill 2 birds with one stone: satiate my baking desire (and writing procrastination), and supply Muffin Top with its first muffin recipe.
Pumpkin muffins fit the Autumn/Halloween/Thanksgiving season–it’s the time of year when there never seems to be enough pumpkin-based recipes, just as summer screams for recipes filled with peaches and plums, and fruit preserves. The warm spices of cinnamon, ginger, and cloves combating the cool chill of Autumn and Winter feel like a culinary cozy sweater. Plus what can you say? The orange-y pumpkin color coordinates so well with Fall leaves!
Though I made these muffins on a Friday afternoon, I can’t help but think how much more delicious they might be on a chilly Autumn morning. It took less than an hour to fill the house with a wonderful spicy pumpkin scent, and produce warm, delicious muffins. Can you imagine waking up to something so delightful? If the first taste of your day is one of these pumpkin muffins, how can you have a bad day at all?
This recipe is super easy. I had most of the items already in my pantry, except for the can of solid-pack pumpkin–which at this time of year, is a pantry staple. The recipe produces a dozen muffins, or one muffin tin full of muffin tops. The only adjustment I made was putting an entire 15-oz. can into the recipe (this was by accident but as you see, the muffins came out just perfect anyway–very moist).
Recipe follows after the jump…
RECIPE FOR PUMPKIN MUFFINS
From Gourmet November 2006
Adapted from the American Club
Makes 1 dozen
Active time: 15 min.
Start to finish: 1 hour
INGREDIENTS:
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpking (from a 15-oz can) (I accidentally put the entire 15 oz. can in, with no ill effects at all)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp pumpkin-pie spice (a combo of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and allspice)
1.25 cups plus 1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Equipment: 12 foil or paper muffin liners; a muffin pan with 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups
DIRECTIONS:
Put oven rack in middle positiona nd preheat oven toe 350F. Put liners in muffin cups.
Whisk together flour and baking powder in a small bowl.
Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin-pie spice, 1.25 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.
Stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in another bowl.
Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about 3/4 full), then spinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown and a wodden pick or skewer inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.
32 responses so far ↓
Susan // November 3, 2006 at 5:49 pm
Ahh, here’s the recipe! These photos are gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. I am drooling. I am going to make these babies TONIGHT!
lucette // November 3, 2006 at 7:26 pm
There must be something in the air–I just baked scones, in spite of the fact that our kitchen is under major and annoying renovation.
Rose // November 22, 2006 at 1:53 pm
Absolutely terriffic and moist and tasty…..
I give it a five star or the highest rating…Even the children went back for seconds!!! unheard of for a muffin!!!!!!!
Kim // August 8, 2007 at 3:02 am
Just made these muffins. THEY ARE DELICIOUS!!! Moved from the city to the country and bake muffins which I sell at the local farmers market. These will definitely become a hot seller - I just know it. Thanks for the recipe!!
c(h)ristine // August 8, 2007 at 7:55 am
Thank you–yes, I love these muffins too. I don’t often eat muffins because they can come out dry and bland like a bad cake…but but these are just totally moist and full of pumpkin flavor, aren’t they?
Kelly // September 21, 2007 at 2:36 pm
I just baked these for a bridal shower tomorrow, and I’m going to have to bake another batch because I already at FOUR! These are so delicious. I also used the whole can of pumpkin and baked them for about 28 minutes. Thanks for a great recipe!
RLP // October 10, 2007 at 11:49 am
I teach Pre-K & I want to make these for our Thanksgiving feast. However, I have to make 72. Do you think they’ll still come out moist if I multiply everything by 6?
c(h)ristine // October 11, 2007 at 9:37 am
Kelly: glad you enjoyed them!
RLP: I am not sure, having never made such a quantity of muffins at one time. I know that multiplying this recipe by 2 doesn’t affect it…but I have no idea what happens if you multiply by 6. Good luck, and hope you enjoy the muffins!
Abbie // October 11, 2007 at 4:59 pm
Thanks for the recipe…these are terrific! I made them for a ladies neighborhood game night and they were a huge hit. I used a whole can of pumpkin and it made about 50 mini muffins. I already have requests for the recipe. These will be a fall staple for sure. Thanks!
m.e. // October 12, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Do you think I could use fresh pumpkin instead?
c(h)ristine // October 12, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Hi m.e.: If you want to use fresh pumpkin, you should roast and puree it first. I made a batch with fresh roasted pumpkin (I took a sugar pie pumpkin, halved it…put it cut sides down on a baking sheet, roasted it at 400F for about an hour until very tender…then pureed it (sans seeds and skin) in the food processor.
You can use that puree in the muffins. I’m not sure it would turn out well if you just put uncooked pumpkin chunks into the muffins.
cindy ~ my romantic home // October 13, 2007 at 8:27 pm
I did a google search for pumpkin muffins and found your site. I made these the other day and they are so good! I’m going to make more tonight! Thanks for the recipe!
sharon // October 18, 2007 at 8:22 pm
Re: fresh pumpkin
I’ve also had good luck microwaving quarters or eighths in a dish with 1 inch of water in the bottom. They are done when you can stick a fork in with very little resistance.
Then puree. If you don’t have a big food processor a potato masher works too.
sharon // October 18, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Let me give the details on microwaving the fresh pumpkin, since I’m doing it right now:
Cut pumpkin into hand-size chunks.
Scrape out seeds and mush; do not peel.
Place in microwave-safe dish with 1 inch of water in the bottom.
Cover with plastic wrap and poke several fork holes in it.
Cook on high heat for 10 minutes (this is in my ancient and venerable 80s microwave, YMMV).
The flesh will be soft, and the outer skin will peel right off for easy pureeing.
c(h)ristine // October 20, 2007 at 12:13 pm
cindy: thank you!
sharon: thank you so much for the instructions on how to microwave pumpkin–so convenient! very helpful–I can tell I’ll be using those very instructions in the future.
Heather // October 21, 2007 at 7:05 am
I made these muffins several times last fall and then lost the recipe! I’m glad this blog came up in my google search. Thanks for posting this one and I’ll be an avid reader from now on.
c(h)ristine // October 28, 2007 at 10:12 am
Heather: welcome to the blog.
thank you.
amberphlame // November 11, 2007 at 11:45 am
I subsituted the sugar for 1/4C maple syrup, 1/4C rapadura and 1/4C sugar.
Delicious!
jean // November 12, 2007 at 8:46 pm
Has anybody had any luck making it healthier with whole wheat flour, reducing the sugar or using a healthy sugar substitute or reducing the oil or better oil alternative?
Marilyn // November 14, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Just made these and they are absolutely delicious!
Nicole // November 19, 2007 at 9:04 am
Can you use whole wheat flour instead?
These days, I always do… even for my pie crusts. Everything turns out delicious anyway.
Why not try it? just substitute… try going half and half at first and slowly progress to all whole wheat. I often add wheat gluten flour, one tbs of it to 1 cup of flour… as it is pure protein. Expensive but worth adding the extra protein.
hope this helps…
Jane // November 20, 2007 at 4:17 am
Thanks for the simple recipe. I somehow discarded my recipe for pumpkin muffins without cranberries and this saved the day. I made them for my youngest’s k1 class to introduce the kids to Thanksgiving (a much loved holiday but one not celebrated here in South East Asia). Also the photos were very appealing and the comments made me think of home (sigh).
Note to Self « Not quite a librarian // November 20, 2007 at 11:45 am
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Vegetarian cook // November 25, 2007 at 11:29 am
For the posters who asked about healthy substitutes: I made these with half whole wheat flour and an even brown sugar/Splenda mix. (I also used about two cups of fresh cooked pumpkin, half a cup of chopped walnuts and probably more spices than they intended.) It came out dense and moist and tasty and popular with the boyfriend; maybe not as fluffy as the original recipe, but that might have to do with overmixing. I let them sit out overnight and they were still moist in the morning.
For lowering the fat, you could probably remove one or both egg yolks without messing up the chemistry. I’ve also seen plenty of recipes calling for applesauce or pumpkin or banana in place of some oil; I don’t know whether you’d get a comparable final product, but it might be worth trying if you’re worried about dietary fat.
SM // January 13, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Tip for any muffin recipe:
Preheat oven to 500F then when you put in the muffins drop it down to 400F this will make the muffins have those appealing ‘peaks.’
Thanks for the recipe!
Amanda // January 26, 2008 at 12:18 am
I searched for this recipe and picked it based on the picture. They look great! I’ve been looking for a recipe that will come close to those amazing pumpkin muffies at Panera. Have any of you tried them.. are they similar to these muffins?
Melsky // February 1, 2008 at 8:46 am
I made these and they turned out really really well! I used whole wheat flour, the whole 15 oz can of pumpkin, and a quarter tablespoon each of ginger, cloves and nutmeg, and a whole teaspoon of cinnamon (I like spicy!)
I posted a photo on my blog, you can see it by clicking my name above.
Janet // February 3, 2008 at 5:39 pm
I tried making the recipe and the muffins didn’t rise very much, so they were more of a dense, soft pumpkin cookie than muffin. I thought it was because the baking powder might have been expired, but I tested it and it’s still active?
dougie // February 29, 2008 at 10:56 am
This recipe really taste delicious I which this lady was my wife I would cherish her for the rest of my life love you baby girl.
Cindi // March 29, 2008 at 10:08 am
What is the nutritional info on these muffins?
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Lynda // May 4, 2008 at 3:56 pm
why do all my muffins come out “flat” no puffy top like everyone else?
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