A New (Yummy) Twist on Pumpkin

When it comes to pie, pumpkin is not my favorite. I'm just not a fan of the often goopy texture--I'd much rather have a slice full of crisp, cinnamon apples or crunchy pecans. I do love the flavor of pumpkin though, so when I got a pie pumpkin in my farm share recently, I got inspired to make something delicious. I adapted the recipe below from one I found on Epicurious, and the result was amazing. Light, fluffy little treats full of fall spice and pumpkin goodness. I only got to enjoy one as the rest were destined for my son's birthday celebration at daycare, where they were reportedly devoured with much zeal by a roomful of toddlers. I'll certainly be making them again soon. And if you have a spare pumpkin leftover from Thanksgiving (even if it's in a can), I recommend you do the same!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Ingredients

1 sugar pumpkin (aka pie pumpkin)--you can also substitute one can of *real* pumpkin here

2 c all purpose flour

2 t baking powder

1/4 t baking soda

1.5 t ground cinnamon

1 t ground ginger

1/8 t ground cloves

1/2 t salt

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

3/4 c packed light brown sugar

1/4 c sour cream

1/4 c applesauce

2 large eggs

1 t pure vanilla extract

Directions

Pumpkin

Apparently pumpkin can cook up relatively quickly in the microwave, but I tend to opt for roasting when it comes to my root vegetables. It's easy, tasty, and you don't have to worry about cleaning up messy orange explosions. Simply slice the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds, drizzle with a little olive oil and roast cut-side down on a sheet pan at 350 until soft. Cooking times can vary depending on the moisture content of your pumpkin, but I would start checking for doneness after about half an hour. In the meantime, you can rinse your pumpkin seeds, toss them in a little salt and oil and throw them in the oven as well! Just give them a stir every few minutes until they're nice and crispy. Bonus.

Muffins

Preheat oven to 400. Butter your muffin pan if it's not nonstick.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a large bowl.

In another bowl, whisk together butter, brown sugar, pumpkin , sour cream, apple sauce, eggs, and vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Spoon batter into muffin tins. Bake for about 20 minutes, until a fork comes out clean. Best enjoyed while still warm along with a steaming cup of tea or cider. Yum!

Note: If you want to add a little texture, the Epicurious recipe calls for plumped golden raisins (just soak them in hot water for five minutes before adding to batter) and pumpkin seeds in the muffins, as well as some pumpkin seeds sprinkled on top. A dab of cream cheese frosting would also do quite nicely...

Photo courtesy of Sultry, via Flickr creative commons