Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Every year I make sure to plant sugar pumpkins so we can have pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies (w/cream cheese frosting of course), and pumpkin spice muffins. In the fall, once the pumpkins have turned their gorgeous orange color I roast them in the oven.  I take the soft fleshy inside to puree it and freeze in ziplock bags for just this purpose.  It's really a nice reward, when it's February and you aren't going to find any sugar pumpkins in the grocery store.  Sure you can go with the canned pumpkin, but I really prefer the homegrown kind.  These muffins are so tasty that you might want to double the recipe because they really disappear that quickly.  You can add a cream cheese frosting to these, but I don't think they really need it. Also these are fantastic snacks for your little ones. Miss Rosalie absolutely loves them (10 months old). 

                                                    Rosalie contemplating how to eat her muffin

Ingredients:
1 cup All-purpose Flour or Organic Bread Flour (which is what I always have on hand)
1/2 cup Sugar
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1-1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Ground Ginger
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Salt
4 Tablespoons Butter soften, cut into pieces
1 cup (heaping) Pumpkin Puree
1/2 cup Milk
1 whole Egg
1-1/2 teaspoon Vanilla 

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 400.
Take the soften butter and whip it in your mixer.  
Add in one at a time, mixing after each addition the sugar, eggs, milk, pumpkin, and vanilla.  

Mix the rest of your dry ingredients in a separate bowl before you add them to the pumpkin mixture. Do not over mix, but make sure it's all incorporated.  


Grease your muffin tins or use paper ones. Fill up the tins 1/2-3/4 of the way. Bake for about 20 minutes depending on the size of the muffin tins. 

 Enjoy!


Yes, she ate the whole thing!