I LOVE PUMPKIN MUFFINS. They are moist, light, and heavily-infused with the calming scent of clove. The cinnamon-sugar muffin-tops are deliciously crisp. And furthermore, as desserts go, these babies are bursting with nutrition. For they are loaded with beta-carotene.
Did you know that dogs and cats adore beta-carotene? You should have seen Lily the Beagle’s nose twitch as the muffins baked, and the house became enveloped with the spicy pumpkin aroma. She reminded me, in fact, of Samantha Stephens, from the television series Bewitched.
Pumpkin Muffins
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine
Ingredients for one dozen muffins
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15 ounce can)
1/3 cup tasteless vegetable oil (I used Wesson)
2 large eggs
1 tsp pumpkin-pie spice
1 1/4 cups plus 1 Tbs sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put liners in muffin cups.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour,baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, and 1 1/4 cups sugar until smooth.
Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and stir just to combine.
In a very small bowl or custard cup, stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 Tbs sugar.
Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about three-fourths full), then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown and wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
Cool in pan on a rack five minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.
I promise your life will be better because of these muffins. The spiciness of the cloves and cinnamon will will pick you up in the morning, and comfort you at night. Furthermore, we all need more beta-carotene in our diet. What better way to acquire it?
I hope you will try these fabulous muffins. If I love them and my beagle loves them, I’ll wager that you’ll love them, too.
Need a copy-and-paste version of the above recipe? Here goes:
Pumpkin Muffins
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine
Ingredients for 1 dozen muffins
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15 ounce can)
1/3 cup tasteless vegetable oil (I used Wesson)
2 large eggs
1 tsp pumpkin-pie spice
1 1/4 cups plus 1 Tbs sugar
1 tsp cinnamonPut oven rack in middle position; preheat oven to 350°F. Put liners in muffin cups.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour,baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, and 1 1/4 cups sugar until smooth.
Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and stir just to combine.
In a small bowl or custard cup, stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in another bowl.
Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about three-fourths full), then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown and wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
Cool in pan on a rack five minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.
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Making these right away! If they are good enough for Lily…
Just wanted you to know I made your pumpkin muffins this morning. They are DELICIOUS! I filled the cups them almost to the top and they made beautiful “heads”, my favorite part of a muffin. The inside is like velvet. And you are right, they are not too sweet. I'll make them again and again. So easy.
I was the happy recipient of a plate of these still warm from the oven…. delicious doesn't even begin to describe them! The cinnamon and sugar topping gives them a bit of crunch,while the muffin is moist and light and so full of flavor! I would encourage everyone to try making these… you'll love them!!! (I did!)
Adele – Make them!
Carole – Nice to hear you made them — and liked them.
Brenda – You are the best taste-tester anyone could ask for!
I'm going to make these too. I've been lazy and buying Dunkin Donuts pumpkin muffins which are too sweet and too many calories. Your recipe looks great. Your dog is adorable
Oh Kevin! I can smell them cooking
. Picked up 2 sugar pumpkins this weekend and roasted 1 yesterday. Today is Kevin's Pumpkin Muffin Day! Thanks so for the inspiration.
LilyBiscuit – I think you'll find these muffins are not terribly sweet — in fact, they border on savory!
Cary – “Kevin's Pumpkin Muffin Day” — I like that holiday! Let me know how these turn out for you.
I am surprised you don’t make your own pumpkin puree. It’s so easy. Of course, you have to buy some kind of pie pumpkin. My favorite is a Long Island cheese pumpkin; it’s a beige color and looks as though someone sat on it, but I think it is far better than the traditional orange-colored pie pumpkin. You slice it in half along the “equator.” Remove the seeds. Turn each half upside down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Cook in a 325 oven until done. Put the cooked pulp through a food processor or a blender and let it hang in some cheese cloth overnight. This gets rid of the excess water, which, unless eliminated, will mess up any recipe very quickly. I freeze it in 1 1/2- or 2-cup amounts (depending on my recipes) and use it all winter.
Pam, just want to clarify, you put the pumpkins on the baking sheet open-end down? Also, how do you know when they’re done?
Almost as much sugar as flour? No. How would this be adaptable if I only use 1/2 cup of sugar? Thanks!
Hi Deborah Morrison – Lots of sugar because it’s a sweet, dessert-type muffin, with an incredibly delicious crust. If you’d like to produce a more savory muffin, go ahead and cut the sugar back by half. The taste will be different…but still delicious, I think.
I grow sugar pumpkins in my garden and have been on a quest to find the perfect pumpkin muffin recipe. Looking forward to trying this one. Thanks for posting it!
Oh my gosh! I’m going to make these fabulous muffins tonight! They look and sound sooo yummy! Looks like they got the approval from the Boss! LOL Lily is adorable!
Kevin and Deborah When you reduce the sugar in a recipe if you replace the amount you left out with dry milk powder the product will look similar, I usually do that for 1/4 to 1/3 of the sugar in many recipes. If you would just cut the sugar in half in a recipe like this they will come out very flat, wouldn’t look at all like this.
definitly making these. i love pumpkin.
I’m making them today! Lily the Cockerspaniel will love them I’m sure as much as Lily the Beagle.
cathy fox – That’s music to my ears.
Joyce – If you get a chance, let me know how you and your own special Lily like the muffins. (I grew up with a Brittney Spaniel who adored all things squash-related.)
Thank you so much!! Yummy!! Looks wonderful!!
Dogs love pumpkin and butternut squash. If your doggies ever need surgery and you find that they are not moving stool, add some pumpkin to their food. They will love it and it will bring results in a very gentle way.
Thanks for the pumpkin puree idea too!
Where is the link for the printable recipe for the pumpkin muffins? My husband is the cook of the family but he doesn’t do computers and keeps paper copies of all his recipes.
Linda – They are wonderful!
melody – No wonder dogs like pumpkin and butternut squash!
Margi – Oops – I completely forgot about the copy-and-paste version. Fixed now.
These sounded delicious and with the hurricane bearing down on us, figured they’d make a great “power’s out snack.” I swapped the oil for 1/3 C applesauce plus 1 Tbs oil, and reduced the sugar to 1/3 Cup. I think I cut it back a bit too much – maybe to 1/2C next time. Oh, and added dried cranberries. Awesome! And my dog was excited, too so I had to make her a batch of dog biscuits to protect my muffins. Thank you for the recipe!!
I made these muffins this afternoon but to make them a little healthier I substituted 1/2 cup whole wheat flour for 1/2 cup white flour and added a few toasted pecans. The result was delicious! Thanks for the recipe. HMMMM GOOD!
Hey, Kevin –
I SO enjoy your newsletters! LOVE looking at photos and articles about your gardens and lovely home… I just copied and saved article about forcing hyacinths that I can’t wait to start around Thanksgiving to have this place blooming like spring when the harsh reality that we’ve more winter after the holidays sets in!
Wanted to let you know that I made these muffins this week and like Sue, I “healthified” it a bit. For example, I used 50-50 organic whole wheat flour and organic pastry flour; used organic coconut palm sugar instead of the white; used organic, raw coconut oil instead of veg as that likely contains GMO’s – esp if it’s canola; used Egg Replacer instead of “real” eggs to avoid potential antibiotics/rBGH growth hormones; used cinamon/allspice/nutmeg as I didn’t have “pumpkin pie spice”, but believe that that would likely be equal, don’t you?; I used organic pumpkin to avoid GMO’s and added 1T organic pure maple syrup – also think a dash of vanilla would be good addition as well.
In any event, I don’t believe I took away from the overall flavor but feel good knowing that there are likely less toxic ingredients in this revised version. I’d love for you to visit my FB page (link above) that serves as my blog. I’m in process of writing a series on natural wellness, “Listening to Reason”, working on debut book, “We the Sheeple” as well as a cookbook, “Cooking Veg-Friendly Organic on Budget”. If you’d be interested in reviewing the manuscript for that when it’s ready, I’d be honored to receive your “blessing” and would be more than happy to include links back to your website/promo, etc…
I’d love to include my revised recipe in my cookbook and will give you credit for original recipe (adapted from….)…
Take care and thanks for all you are and do!
Your friend in Denver,
Christine
i made these pumpkin muffins and i also had them with your cream cheese frosting they were great
Made these this morning. Very easy – didn’t need the stand mixer which was a plus. They taste very pumpkin-y. If that doesn’t put you off then they are good. Came out looking beautiful – perfect rise and crackly topped. Thought about glazing them as I have a sweet tooth but otherwise not too shabby:)
Lily the Cocker spaniel loved them, as did I, just the way they were! I will make them again and again thru this fall season!
Love your newsletter.
Just to let you know I Pinned this recipe on Pinterest! Love pumpkin anything! I also have a Lily! Well, it’s really Lily Luv but we call her Lily. When ever her stools are looser than desired I give her maybe 3 heaping tablespoons of can pumpkin (not pie mix). Believe me when I say when you have a Great Dane poop matters! Love your website Kevin!
Wondering about how many standard, medium-size muffins this recipe makes ? Might need to double the batch!