Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients:                                                      Temperature: 400 Fahrenheit

16 oz fresh pumpkin (1 pie pumpkin should do it)
4 eggs
2 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 C vegetable oil
3 C flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp ginger
2 tsp allspice
1 tsp salt


Directions:

1. Cut pumpkin in half, remove seeds and strings and peel the skin off.  Cube and boil the pumpkin until soft.  Drain and mash.

2. Mix the pumpkin, eggs, sugar, vanilla and oil until smooth.

3. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and salt.

4. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the batter, being careful not to over stir.

5. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full and bake at 400 Fahrenheit for 16-20 minutes.  Remove from oven when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Makes 36 muffins

This is a phenomenal recipe that is great for experimentation.  You can use whole wheat flour, applesauce instead of oil and you can put less sugar in to make them healthier.  I would recommend only replacing 1 cup of oil with applesauce and still using 1/4 cup of oil, I find this gives it the best consistency.  I have also cut the sugar down to a 1/2 cup before and they still taste terrific but I was using applesauce at the time.  I honestly don't know if they would still taste as good if you cut the sugar down that much but didn't have the applesauce in them.  If you use the applesauce instead of oil, you will probably need to bake them closer to the 20 minutes, with just oil though I find mine to be done at 16 minutes.  You can also experiment with the spices.  I chose to use the spices I did because I really like them but if you don't like ginger or nutmeg, leave them out.  If you only have cinnamon on hand, just use it! You could use canned pumpkin for this recipe but trust me, it is worth the effort to use a real pumpkin, the flavor is MUCH better that way.
These muffins are great all by themselves or you can make a cream cheese glaze to drizzle on top which is also quite tasty.  I didn't make the glaze this time but if you want to it is quite simple.
Soften some cream cheese, blend with powdered sugar until smooth.  Add in just enough milk to make it the right consistency for drizzling and drizzle away!  You can also add a bit of vanilla or almond extract if you like.
I hope you try this recipe and love it as much as I do!!