A Fall Flavor Treat: Loaded Pumpkin Muffins
By ANGELA McRAE, The Coweta Shopper Kitchen
If you’re like me, you are going to have some random amount of pumpkin puree left over from your Thanksgiving baking this month, and are you going to waste it? No, you are not.
A friendplops hers on oatmeal, and I may try that as well, but I also suggest baking some muffins. I tend to make tea loaves as my default quick bread, but one morning, it occurred to me that muffins might be a nice change, so I whipped up a batch of these based on an old recipe that I changed and made my own.
Like fruit? It’s in there. Like spice? It’s in there. Nuts? They’re in there too. This is one of those recipes you can easily make your own by swapping the raisins for cranberries, the pecans for walnuts, the cardamom for cloves… You get the idea.
These could have been named Pumpkin Spice Muffins, but I avoided that moniker since I recently read that, to my dismay, pumpkin spice treats are falling down in the national rankings. Now, I’m a fan. So far this fall, I’ve had pumpkin spice chai, pumpkin spice coffee creamer, and pumpkin spice Cheerios (yummy). A new friend I met at a local crafts group treated us to pumpkin spice pretzels, and they were tasty, too, but I hear that cinnamon, salted caramel, and candy apple flavors are rising in popularity. Cinnamon is such an everyday spice that it really shouldn’t be counted. Salted caramel? Same. Candy apples, I’ll admit, are fall specific, so I understand that one. But for those of us who are lifelong lovers of pumpkin-and-spice goodies, they’re here to stay.
Regular old pumpkins and cans of pumpkin puree probably aren’t going anywhere either, and if making these easy muffins helps you use up some of that pumpkin puree, yippee.
I hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving and take time to remember that there is always, always something to be grateful for—including pumpkins!
Loaded Pumpkin Muffins
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 large egg
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped pecans, plus extra for garnish
Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bottoms of 12 muffin cups with cooking spray. Mix all muffin ingredients just until combined. Batter will be lumpy. Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until tops are beginning to turn golden brown. Immediately remove muffins from pan.
For the glaze, whisk the powdered sugar with enough milk to give you a thin, pourable consistency. I like to spoon mine into a plastic baggie, snip off the tiniest corner possible, then use the baggie to drizzle the glaze over the muffins. If desired, add a final sprinkling of pecans.
