Pumpkin Muffins

Moist and spicy Pumpkin Muffins make a great snack or breakfast option. Make them plain or with raisins or apples.

I've had this Pumpkin Muffin recipe for a few years but I didn't like how the muffins turned out.  They were always heavy no matter how lightly I mixed everything together.  So this year I got busy and started fixing the recipe and ended up with a rather nice muffin.  They are moist but not heavy and, for me, they have just the right amount of sweetness and spice.  You can make them plain or add raisins or chopped apple to the mix.  I chose apples this time because we have an abundance of apples on hand from Nan's old apple tree.  

I like the crunch of a little sugar baked on top of each muffin.  Sometimes I use white sugar (if I'm not home) but my favourite sugar for sprinkling on top is raw sugar.  It gives the muffins an extra little bit of crunch which I really like.

Printable recipe at end of post.

Pumpkin Muffins

• 1½ cups flour
• ½ cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon cloves  
• ½ cup sour milk or buttermilk
• 1 cup canned pumpkin  
• ⅓ cup oil or melted butter
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg
• ½ cup raisins or chopped peeled apple, optional
• Extra sugar to sprinkle on top of muffins, optional

How to make it:
Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Line or grease 12 muffins cups.  

In a large mixing bowl, sift or stir together the flour, white sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.  In a smaller bowl, beat the milk, pumpkin, oil/butter, brown sugar, vanilla and egg until well combined.  Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the pumpkin mixture.  Stir all ingredients just until flour is moistened. The batter may be lumpy.  Gently fold in raisins or chopped apples, if using.

Fill muffin cups ¾ full.  If desired, sprinkle ¼ teaspoon sugar over batter in each cup.  Bake 18 to 20 minutes. Immediately remove from pan and cool on baking rack. 

Makes 12 muffins.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Line or grease 12 muffin cups.  

Stir together all the dry ingredients.  A whisk works well.

In a small bowl beat the wet ingredients together with the pumpkin, including the brown sugar.

The dry and wet mixtures ready to be combined.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the pumpkin mixture.  

Stir all ingredients just until flour is moistened. The batter may be lumpy. 

Gently fold in the apples or raisins.  Do not overmix as this will make the muffins tough.

On the right raw sugar sprinkled on top.  On the right white sugar sprinkled on top.  I like the raw sugar's crunch the best. 

Raw sugar's grains are quite large compared to the white sugar.  They also have a nice caramel flavour which complements the taste of the pumpkin muffins. 

Bake 18-20 minutes or until done.  

Remove the hot muffins from the pan and cool on a baking rack.

I made a batch of muffins at David's place so I shared a muffin with Don on Facebook.  Ha, ha, ha!

Eat them as they are or add a slather of butter.

Moist and spicy Pumpkin Muffins make a great snack or breakfast option.

To print click on arrow upper right side.⇩