muffin madness*

this post was supposed to happen on monday.  then it would have been muffin madness monday.  no matter.  prepare yourselves, i'm going to go on about muffins for a bit.

last week i made five batches of muffins.  yes, five.  they really are the perfect breakfast/snack/pop-it-in-the-lunchbox/standing-around-the-kitchen-preparing-thanksgiving-dinner food.

on monday, it was the multigrain muffins from this cookbook - a major favorite, and our go-to-muffin recipe.  those were gone by wednesday.  then, on tuesday, after reading about heather's pumpkin muffins (and with a can of organic pumpkin in the cabinet for just such an emergency) i had to make those.  you might remember that i mentioned them here last week?  they were moist and light and absolutely delicious.  and after i professed my undying love for them...i went and made a different pumpkin recipe on thursday morning.

because as much as the parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles and great-aunts and cousins loved those muffins, the taste of the molasses was too strong for the kids.  this is entirely my fault - you see, i only had blackstrap molasses in the cabinet (alicia, that would explain why your muffins were so much lighter in color than mine), and the flavor of the blackstrap definitely overpowered the pumpkin.  delicious, but sophisticated.  for a mature palate.  and gone by wednesday at bedtime.

 

but thursday morning, wanting to make muffins that the whole family would love, i used this recipe.  and oh. my. goodness.  they were delicious.  also light and moist.  pumpkin-y.  and gone by thursday afternoon.  (there were a lot of us in the house last week.  ok?)

on sunday, we were invited to brunch with friends, and i took the pumpkin muffins.  24 of them.  i modified the recipe slightly, and this is going to be my go-to recipe for pumpkin muffins (for mixed-age gatherings) for now.  until i get some good old molasses and try heather's recipe again.  in the meantime, we're out of muffins, so i'd better get busy around here.

pumpkin muffins

adapted from smitten kitchen

preheat the oven to 350

fill a muffin tin with paper liners (i use unbleached)

in a medium bowl, whisk together:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (use regular whole wheat flour if you don't have the pastry flour)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

in a separate bowl, mix together:

2 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup oil (i use safflower)

1 can solid pack pumpkin

add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring until blended

fill the muffin cups to almost full

then, in a small bowl, mix:

1 tblsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on top of the muffins

bake for 25 minutes

cool on a wire rack

and devour

*thanks to leslie for the title of this post.

Comments

[heather smith jones]

well if it's got magic sprinkles [cinnamon sugar] on the top, then i've got to try them! :)

[Sarah Jackson]

yum!! I love me some pumpkin muffins.

[leslie]

would it be bad if i started baking at 11pm.
yes. i guess these will have to wait for the morning.
but i want one right when i wake up.
big smiles on the title. :)

[shari]

i'm all about muffin madness. thanks for the inspiration.

[Grace]

I'm just going come over and marry you and your marvelous muffins. I need to try your new adapted recipe. And also, we only had blackstrap molasses when I made Heather's (are there other kinds of molasses? j/k). James LOVED them, but Elisabeth wouldn't try them because she "hates pumpkin." Whatever that means. :P

[Tara]

I can't count the number of pumpkin loaves I've baked in the pst few months. Muffins would be an acceptable switch, no?

One question: How big a can of pumpkin? Because all I found at the store the other day were the MONSTER cans, which work great for a double batch of pumpkin bread...too much for muffins? Just say the word and I'll double them bad boys too. ;)

[Christin]

I have to join you in professing my love of all muffins and especially pumpkin muffins. Thanks for sharing and giving me an excuse to celebrate and bake. Happy munching.

[Cindy]

Beautiful blogsite. The muffins sound delicious. Today is Blog Comment Day. Although I have been following your blog, I have never commented.
Have a perfect day
Cindy

[Liz]

I've got a can of pumpkin burning a hole in the cupboard. I think we need muffins for breakfast this weekend - they look SO yummy.

[cloth.paper.string]

i can't wait for my long weekend to begin in a few hours, because making these muffins is on my list!

[Tracy]

Yum. I've been dreaming about pumpkin muffins, and maybe now I'll have time to make them!

[melissa]

i love the title of this post. it's excellent. and thank you for the recipe! i hope to try them soon. :)

[Mary Jo, Five Green Acres]

Thank you again! We made the molasses pumpkin muffins, and I was SURPRISED by the big molasses taste that quickly turned to pumpkin. Shouldn't have been surprised, but oh well. They still went over well, but I'm really excited to try a different version. Thanks for sharing yours, because apparently I can't be bothered to look up my own alternatives. You make it too easy... :)

[Mary]

I made these this weekend and they were so amazing. Even though I had to fudge a bit because I got over enthusiastic and didn't check the pantry first. I used pumpkin pie spice in lieu of the spices and brown instead of white sugar. I also used 1 1/2 fresh (frozen) pumpkin puree. My whole family loved them, including my hubby who professes to only like pumpkin in pie. Thanks for sharing your recipe with us!

[amisha]

muffin madness sounds like a lot of fun :) i have now hit the wall with my work... my papers are shifting from criminal defense law ethics to baking... all my breaks seem to involve staring longingly into the pantry! visions of muffins dancing in my head...
xox

[cloth.paper.string]

made these again tonight. thanks emily!