A Flavor for Life

I’m beginning to form a strong association between pumpkin muffins and goodbyes.

Remember these little beauties I shared with you a month ago? They continue to be my family’s favorites. So whenever it comes time to say goodbye, I always find myself baking up a batch. These freeze incredibly well, so I’ll bake a big batch and pack it away in the freezer so that the family will always have some baked goods to tide them over until the next time I can make it back out to see them again.

I’m constantly trying to figure out how to up the healthful factor in these while making sure that they continue to taste like treats rather than health food. This batch is my favorite by far. It has a delicate crumb while still being incredibly dense and moist. And the chew of the oats provides a nice contrast to the tenderness of the crumb. Plus, I have configured the recipe to use canned pumpkins, because while I wish fresh pumpkins were accessible year-round, we know that’s not always the case.

Next time around, I want to experiment with replacing some of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour, some of the sugar with honey, and some of the oil with apple sauce. And maybe I’ll even add a dash of rum. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? I’ll share with you how those revisions turn out. In the meantime, though, this recipe is good to go. Hope these become a healthful staple in your household, too!

Pumpkin muffins
2 c all purpose flour
2 tspns cinnamon
1 tspn ground ginger
1/2 tspn ground nutmeg
1 tspn baking soda
1/4 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn salt
1 c sugar
3/4 c vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tspn vanilla extract
15 oz can pure pumpkin puree
1 c toasted pumpkin seeds
1 c rolled oats
1/2 c raisins

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
Set out 2 large bowls
Measure out the ingredients

1. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt in one bowl
2. In the other bowl, mix on medium-high speed the sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla extract
3. Mix a little of the wet mixture into the dry mix. Then add the dry mix to the wet mix and fold just until combined.
4. Add in the pumpkin puree, seeds, oats, and raisins. Fold just until combined.
5. Plop about 3-4 tbspns of the batter into a greased muffin tin
6. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean