Happy Fall!
The leaves are changing, the weather is cooling down, and the wind smells of a new season. I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate Fall than by whipping up a batch of pumpkin muffins. With a sugar-pie pumpkin from the local farmers market as the star, these muffins guarantee a smile and make a great breakfast or mid-day snack. Enjoy!
Pumpkin Muffins:
Recipe yields about 30 muffins, or 24 muffins and 12 minis
Ingredients
3 cups organic, whole wheat pastry flour
2 and 1/2 cups cane sugar
2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cup pureed pumpkin
1 cup soy milk (feel free to substitute almond milk if you want a more nutty flavor)
1 cup vegetable oil
4 tablespoons maple syrup
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take your sugar-pie pumpkin and rub it with olive oil and place on a cookie sheet. Roast in the oven for about 60 minutes, until skin is easy to cut through with a knife. Cut open the pumpkin and puree the pumpkin, making sure to leave the seeds and skin out. The seeds are a great treat!
Preheat oven to 400 degrees for the muffins. Either grease or line muffin pans and set aside. Sift together the dry ingredients and place in a bowl. Whisk together the wet ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Blend until creamy mixture appears and all ingredients are combined. Fill muffin tins about 3/4 of the way full and bake for about 22 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for about 5 minutes before placing onto a cooling rack.
Quick and easy sweet roasted pumpkin seeds:
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
Lay the pumpkin seeds on a cookie sheet and pour oil evenly over seeds. Sprinkle sugar and spice mixture onto seeds and cook for about 8 minutes while the remaining muffins are baking. Serve as a party appetizer or along with the muffins.
If music be the food of love, play on. 