I have a somewhat obsessive compulsive morning routine. First of all, let me make clear that I am NOT a morning person. I am the personification of all that is an evil rotten grump. The most important thing happens first: I fire up the Keurig and make my coffee! Coffee is life. Without it, nobody else in my household would not be alive. I then switch on my Bluetooth speaker and get my morning grind tunes bumping! Always motivates me, and I have several different playlists to choose from depending on my mood that day. On my kitchen playlist, I like music that gets me shakin’ my thang! This morning I started out doing the “Soulja Boy” and then somehow transitioned into “The Time Warp”, followed by Pharrell’s “Happy”. It put me in a great mood, and then suddenly, I got breakfast inspired!
House and the kids are creatures of habit, and they tend to request the same few things over and over. It’s taylor ham, egg, and cheese sandwiches, pancakes, banana bread, scrambled eggs and bacon, and veggie egg frittatas with maple sausage. Today, however, I decided to shake it up a bit. What haven’t we had in a while? Hmmmm… Oh! I’ve got it! Pumpkin Muffins!!!
This is my own original recipe, and it’s a pretty good happy medium between a muffin and a cupcake. They’re really not too difficult, and they come out wonderful every time. The kids really love mini muffins, and House and I prefer actual grown-up sized ones, so I do both. I make a pretty good sized batch of these, and freeze what we don’t eat right away. They freeze really well, thaw on the counter nicely, and if you’d like them warmed up, just put them in the oven at 350 degrees F for five minutes. Everyone loves these, even when it’s nowhere near pumpkin season!
Perfect Pumpkin Muffins
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp Vanilla
1 15 oz canned pumpkin (I swear by Libby’s!)
In a large bowl, pour the granulated sugar, the brown sugar, and the 3 eggs, and beat with an electric mixer on low for about 30 seconds. Add the vegetable oil and beat again for another 30 seconds, until all the ingredients are well combined.
Then, add the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and vanilla extract to the egg mixture. Blend together on medium speed for about 2 minutes, frequently scraping the sides of the bowl.
Lastly, put the pumpkin in the mixture and mix on medium speed about 2 minutes, until well blended.
Line a muffin pan with cupcake wrappers and lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray. Use an ice cream scooper to scoop up the batter and pour into the muffin wrappers for a regular sized muffins, and a cookie scooper or melon baller for the mini ones. I find using this method makes perfectly shaped and uniform muffins. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-22 minutes for regular sized muffins and 18 minutes for mini muffins.
When your baking timer goes off, remove the pan from the oven and test the doneness with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean, they’re done. If batter still sticks to the toothpick, they need more time. If you do have to put them back in, put them in for increments of 5 minutes at a time, testing with the toothpicks each time, and cooking longer if need be. Once they’re done, let them sit in the muffin pan about 10 minutes, and then transfer the muffins to a platter. These are phenomenal hot with sweet cream butter!
These are SO fabulously delicious and completely homemade. Can I just tell you that tray was empty within 20 minutes? They’re really not too labor intensive, and once you taste these, you will never want to make muffins from a box again. Ever. Enjoy!
Best pastry chef ever!