Pumpkin Muffins: The End

I've long been on a quest for the perfect pumpkin muffin. My testing has been neither thorough, nor exhaustive, but after finding this recipe, I've decided to stop looking.

Of course, finding is a relative term. Misreading is perhaps a better way to put it. The recipe clearly says 1 cup of pumpkin, so I added a whole can. I'd like to think this is a major contributing factor to their deliciousness.

I know it's not even remotely close to pumpkin season. In fact, you're probably much more concerned with how to use the plethora of strawberries and stone fruits that are just coming into season.

I'm hoping that you also happen to have a can of pumpkin left in your pantry: it is always wise to stockpile such precious commodities. If so, make these immediately. Strawberries can wait. (Or you can have one for breakfast, with strawberries on the side.)

If not, I'm sorry. Put them on your calendar, sometime in October. (September if you can get away with it!)

----- ----- ----- ----- ---- -----
The Perfect Pumpkin Muffin
makes 6 jumbo muffins (note: if they were regular size, they wouldn't be perfect)

1c sugar
2 eggs
0.25t baking powder
1t baking soda
0.75t salt
1.5c whole wheat flour
0.5c oil
0.5c cold water
1 15oz can pumpkin (yes, the whole thing)
spices: 1T cinnamon, 0.5t nutmeg, 0.5t cloves, 0.5t ginger

1. Mix all ingredients together. No, seriously, that's all.
2. Pour into jumbo muffin cups. (We use silicone ones.) Bake for 50 minutes at 325.
----- ----- ----- ----- ---- -----


Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com.

Like what you read? Share it on Facebook, Twitter or GoogleBuzz using the buttons below!

Pumpkin Muffins Take 5: Almost Perfect

I say almost, because I'm sure they could be better, but these are spectacular. They're moist, fluffy and tender, with a great balance between pumpkin and spice. Everything you could ever want in a pumpkin muffin! And they've come a long way since the first round of pumpkin muffins!

I made these by adapting a banana bread recipe, and substituting pumpkin for banana. They ended up a bit too wet the first time I made them, so I increased the rest of the ingredients and used a second egg in place of more milk. I liked the banana bread recipe because it used so much banana, but still used a bit of butter to give it just enough fat and richness.

Post about banana bread is coming soon (it's the best I've ever tasted!) but for now, you'll have to live with pumpkin muffins. How awful.

----- ----- -----
Pumpkin Muffins Take 5
makes 18 large muffins

Pumpkin Muffins Take 4: Epic Fail

Apparently the great pumpkin shortage of 2009 has continued to impact this years availability. After an epic journey to acquire pumpkin, we only found pumpkin pie mix and sweet potato puree. I decided to try the pumpkin pie mix, and adjust my recipe accordingly.

-----
Epic Fail Pumpkin Muffins (Take 4)
makes 24 muffins

Ingredients
1 28 oz. can of pumpkin pie mix
6 eggs
0.25c milk
2.25c whole wheat flour
2.25c white flour
5t baking powder
1t baking soda
2T cinnamon
2t nutmeg
1t ginger
0.5t cloves

Directions
1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl
2. Bake for 25 minutes at 350°F
-----
The muffins were chewy, instead of crumbly, like the cranberry walnut muffins. I think that was partly because I used King Arthur AP flour, which has more gluten, and therefore gives the muffins closer to a bread texture. They were lighter than the last round, and I think next time I'll switch to all whole wheat.

The pumpkin pie mix had sugar in it, so I left out the sugar. Next time, I think I would add some additional brown sugar to make these a bit sweeter.

The spices I used were a little bit old (staying at somebody else's house... should have bought fresh spices), so they ended up making the muffins taste dry. The spices kind of sucked the moisture off your tongue.. unpleasant.

The extra baking soda and baking powder definitely helped the muffins get lighter, but I think next time I'll try a little bit less of each. I may also use a little bit less flour and leave out the milk. I couldn't taste the pumpkin as much as I would have liked.
----- ----- -----

Just tuning in? Check out the rest of the pumpkin muffin saga, including more recent recipes!

Pumpkin Muffins: Take Three

A few weeks ago, I did a comparison of my original pumpkin muffin recipe and a new, low fat version. The low fat version blew the original recipe out of the water.. so much so that even if you were trying to gain weight, I'd recommend putting butter on the low fat version instead of eating the original.

The new recipe still wasn't perfect, though. It wasn't as tender as I'd like them, and still needed a little bit more oomph. In this iteration on the recipe, I've fixed the tenderness. I still need something to make the flavor out of this world amazing, but I think I trip to get more spices will help. (Right now I've only got cinnamon and nutmeg; I think I need some ginger.)

The changes: I replaced the white sugar with brown sugar; I added back in one more whole egg, replacing two egg whites; I used milk instead of carrots; and I decreased the baking time.

What I'd do next time: Use milk and carrots, but increase the amount of flour by .25 cup to compensate; bake at a lower temp for longer; add ginger to the spices.

Just tuning in? Check out the rest of the pumpkin muffin saga, including more recent recipes!

-----
Pumpkin Muffins
12 muffins

Pumpkin muffins: A comparison

Up until last year, I never really liked pumpkin-anything. Then, around this time of year, I made pumpkin muffins for my advising group, and my eyes were opened. Next: pumpkin pie, with graham cracker crust and lots of whipped cream.

This year, I've revamped my recipe slightly. The old recipe produced muffins whose grease soaked through the muffin liners--delicious, but also dense. The new recipe produces light, fluffy muffins, that are less greasy, but definitely not less moist. I'd say they're an overall win! (Did I mention they've got less than half the calories?)

Love pumpkin? Check out the rest of the pumpkin muffin saga, including more recent recipes!

Both recipes yield 12 muffins. Continue reading for the calorie comparison, and the winning recipe~

Ingredient:           original recipe................new recipe
AP flour:              2 cups................2.25 cups
baking soda:        1t................0.75t
baking powder:    1t................0.75t

white sugar:         1 cup................1.5 cups
brown sugar:       1 cup................0 cups
eggs, whole:        4................1
eggs, white:         0................4
butter:                  2 sticks................0 sticks

pumpkin:             15 oz.................15 oz.
shredded carrot:   0 cups................1 cup

salt:                      1t................1t
cinnamon:            1t................1.5t
ginger:                  1t................0t
nutmeg:                0.25t................1.5t
allspice:                0.25t................0t
cloves:                  0t................1.5t