Thanksgiving 2012 Holiday Recipes: Pumpkin Spice Muffins

November 21: Pumpkin Spice Muffins

In a tasty victorian tin!

Our resident amateur chef, Lisa, often tries out new recipes on the We Do Web Content office, and this was a request from co-founder, Yvette, for something pumpkin. Her recipe was adapted from A Cozy Kitchen and she's sharing 2 versions of this spicy holiday pastry!

Basic Muffin Batter

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 ¼ cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 ¼ cups of sugar
• ⅛ tsp each of ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice (or 1 tsp. Pumpkin Pie spice)
• ½ tsp cinnamon

Place muffin liners inside the muffin cups. Preheat oven to 350F.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.

Mix pumpkin puree, oil, eggs, spices, and sugar in a large bowl until smooth, then mix in flour mixture until just combined.

Version 1 - Crumb Topping 

• ¼ cup quick-cook oatmeal
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ⅛ tsp of ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice (or 1 tsp. Pumpkin Pie spice)
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Stir together ingredients for the crumb topping, use your fingers to break up any lumps of brown sugar.

Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about 3/4 full), then sprinkle tops with crumb mixture. Bake until puffed and a toothpick or wood skewer inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.

Version 2 - Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1-3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• Milk

Using an electric mixer, cream together softened cream cheese, vanilla and 1c powdered sugar until smooth. Continue to add powdered sugar until desired sweetness is achieved. If frosting becomes too thick, add a small amount of milk to thin it out.

Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about 3/4 full), bake until puffed and a toothpick or wood skewer inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature. Spread cream cheese frosting on top and decorate with festive sprinkles.