Pumpkin Muffins

A couple nights ago I put on black tights under my dress and put on a scarf and a sweater before leaving the house. Around midnight the rain started. I guess that means it’s fall.

I’m not quite ready for it yet, to give up the beach and the warmth, but none the less I find myself looking longingly at apples and argyle sweaters and knitted blankets. I want to go apple picking and drink mulled wine and wear thick knitted socks and brown leather boots. But instead, as I was by myself for the day without a car, or the budget to go boot shopping, I made pumpkin muffins.

Soft, warm, buttery pumpkin muffins that long for hot chocolate and a good book. And with the rain pouring, sitting in my little apartment, I drank hot chocolate and finished my book, and welcomed in Fall.

Pumpkin Muffins,

Loosely adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, or whole wheat pastry flour (which is what I used)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
1/2 cup Butter

1 cup Brown Sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Coarse sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350F

Line a muffin tin with liners of butter and flour them.

In a small frying pan over medium low heat brown the butter- melt it and then continue to cook it until the milk solids turn brown and it develops a nice hazelnut smell. Be careful not to burn it.

Meanwhile measure all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and make a well in the middle.

Pour the eggs and pumpkin and butter into it and mix it quickly to make sure the butter doesn’t cook the eggs.

Mix until just combined- do not over work it.

Spoon the batter into the tins, filling them up 3/4 of the way up.

Sprinkle sugar on top, bake until an inserted skewer comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes.

Chocolate for Breakfast

We got a car this weekend! Well, the man of the house got a car this weekend. Clearly, as I don’t even have my learners permit, I am not using the car much, BUT it does mean that we can go hiking and and canoeing and kayaking and really start enjoying the great outdoors that Vancouver is so famous for. Which is tres exciting. I can not wait to be spontaneous about hopping in the car and getting out to the ocean or up into the mountains and just generally living a healthier life style. Which is great because perhaps it will start to balance out my daily butter intake.

Which is all a long way of saying that I’m feeling inspired to get at least my breakfasts on a healthier track. Que the banana muffin.

It’s moist, it’s full of chocolate chips, it lasts at least 4-5 days without tasting stale if you keep it in a closed container. And on top of all that these are made with whole wheat flour and of course bananas which make them pretty healthy. The icing on the cake is that they’re also delicious. Pun intended.

I used whole wheat pastry flour. If you can’t find it you can sift regular whole wheat flour to sift out the whole wheat germ. Or you can keep it in but it will be denser and chewier.

Banana Muffins

1 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 tbsp Vanilla Extract

1 1/2 cups Mashed Bananas (about 4)

3/4 cup Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Butter

1 Egg

1/4 cup Buttermilk

1 cup Chocolate Chips

Melt Butter in a pan. Continue to cook until it gets brown on the bottom and it starts to smell like hazelnuts. Immediately remove from heat and pour into a container.

Preheat oven to 350F

Line 12 muffin cups with liners or butter and flour them.

Mix all dry ingredients except chocolate chips in a bowl

Add in all wet ingredients and mix until barely combined

Add in chocolate chips and fold in until just mixed through.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins about 3/4 full

bake until an inserted skewer comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

Eat Eat Eat!

Marmalade Muffins

It’s been mentioned a couple times recently by a certain somebody who lives in this apartment that it’s beginning to look a little like a candy shop. That maybe we eat too much cake. That perhaps I should blog about some bread or breakfast foods, or maybe make something out of something in the fridge because there is actually no space left to put vegetables. That maybe vegetables wouldn’t be such a bad idea, would they?

To which I say rubbish.

Except that there really is no room in the fridge and I would actually like to put things in the fridge, even though they are more of jam or chocolate variety.

So I’m being oh so generous and making muffins (breakfast!) with marmalade (stuff in the fridge!) but really, I’m making them because that sounds delicious to me.

These are beyond simple to make, but the glaze is really what makes them extra special. Just yogurt and marmalade in it but it elevates the muffins into fancy tea food. In fact, I made some in my mini Bundt pans to use as teacakes, because they are so delicious I don’t think I will have any trouble at all eating them once in the morning and once in the afternoon. No trouble at all.

Yogurt Muffins with Marmalade Glaze

1 ½ cup All Purpose Flour

½ tsp Salt

2 tsp Baking Powder

1cup Sugar

1 cup Yogurt

3 Eggs

1 tbsp Vanilla Extract

½ cup Butter

Zest of 1 lemon

Glaze

½ cup Marmalade

¼ cup Yogurt

Preheat oven to 350F

Butter and flour 12 muffin cups or mini bundt pans, or a loaf pan if you’re feeling crazy

Melt butter

Whisk together dry ingredients in a bowl to remove any lumps

Whisk together all wet ingredients until combined, I mix it all in my measuring cup so I don’t have to dirty another dish.

Mix together until just combined, a couple lumps never hurt anyone so don’t worry if there are a few.

Fill muffin cups ¾ full

Bake until an inserted skewer comes out clean, about 25 minutes

 

Glaze:

Melt marmalade over the stove

Take off heat and stir in yogurt.