By Beth V
OK, so last week I wanted to point out all of the delicious savory ways to add pumpkin to fall meals. As much as I love pumpkin as a savory addition, it sure does taste delicious in baked goods and sweets, doesn't it? I cannot really pretend that this recipe is healthy, per-se, but you when you eat these, you can at least try to convince yourself that since they include pumpkin as a key ingredient, they might as well be health food! One thing I enjoy on occasion in the fall is a trip through my favorite coffee-shop drive thru to get a coffee and a pumpkin doughnut. These delicious muffins are certainly much easier to make than doughnuts, and with a bit of crispness to the exterior and a tender, cake-doughnut-like interior, these may just fulfill that fall, pumpkin doughnut craving.
Start with one stick of softened butter. I usually do not think far enough ahead to pull out butter and let it soften, so I have a trick that works great for softening butter on demand. Just unwrap your cold stick of butter, place it on a plate and microwave it for 15 seconds. The butter should give a little when touched, but not be runny.
Place in a mixer bowl and beat together with 1 cup of sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Add 2 eggs, one at a time. I usually like to crack the egg into a cup to check for any shell pieces and then dump it into the mixture.
I am always surprised how little pieces turn up even when it seems like a clean break. It is much easier to retrieve egg shells out of a little cup than out of the bowl of muffin batter.
Add in 1 can of pumpkin puree or your home cooked pumpkin puree (not pie filling) and ¼ cup buttermilk. Here is another little tip. I never buy buttermilk. Buying a quart of buttermilk when the recipe calls for ¼ cup seems like a big waste. If the recipe calls for ¼ cup of buttermilk, I add ¾ tsp lemon juice to the bottom of a liquid measuring cup and then pour in milk to the ¼ cup mark. Here I made a double-batch, so I added about 1 ½ teaspoons to my measuring cup and filled it the rest of the way with milk to the ½ cup mark. Let it sit for about 5 minutes or until the milk starts to curdle a bit, then pour it into the recipe. Mix this together well.
Now, if you have a sifter, grab it for this part of the recipe. Put your sifter on a plate and add all of the dry ingredients into it…flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ground nutmeg. Pick up the sifter and hold it over your bowl of partially-mixed batter. Sift it right into the bowl.
If you do not have a sifter, just add these ingredients to a separate bowl and mix well with a fork, then add the dry mixture to the liquid ingredients. I do not think sifting is a critical step in this recipe.
Starting with a very slow speed, mix until the flour is incorporated and then beat at a higher speed until everything is thoroughly blended. The makes a beautiful, thick, orangey-colored batter.
Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and fill the cups 2/3 full with the batter. I like to use a gravy ladle…a heaping gravy ladle-full of batter seems to be just the right amount.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Aren't these pretty? I like to test for doneness with a wooden skewer. Just poke it right into one of the muffins in the middle of the pan and if it comes out with just a few crumbs attached, the muffins are perfectly cooked.
Allow the muffins to sit for about 5 minutes until they are still warm, but cool enough to handle. Meanwhile, melt 2 sticks of butter in a bowl. In another bowl, stir together 1 cup of sugar and 4 teaspoons cinnamon. Now this sounds kind of disgusting, but just go ahead and do it. We have no illusions of this being a healthy recipe this time. This tip was taken straight from The Pioneer Woman's recipe for French Breakfast Puffs. Dunk each muffin into the butter and then roll it into the cinnamon sugar until thoroughly coated. It sounds like a lot of butter, but it's evenly divided over many muffins. Doesn't that make you feel better? This coating is a crucial step in giving these that cake-doughnut taste.
Mmmm. Crunchy on the outside, moist and tender on the inside. I enjoyed mine with a home-brewed iced coffee, though I'm sure hot coffee or tea would be equally delicious.
Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins
Adapted from grouprecipes.com
Yield: 16 muffins1 cup sugar
½ cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 can pumpkin
¼ cup buttermilk, or lemon juice/milk mixture
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Coating:
1 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
4 teaspoons cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat the sugar and the butter together in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the pumpkin and the "buttermilk". Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg into the pumpkin mixture, then beat until smooth. The batter will be quite thick.
Coat muffin pans with cooking spray. Fill the muffins pans about 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the muffins start to brown a little on the edges and a tester comes out with just a few crumbs attached.
Allow to sit in pans until just cool enough to handle. Meanwhile, melt 1 cup of butter (2 sticks). In a separate bowl, mix 1 cup sugar and 4 teaspoons cinnamon. Dip each muffin into melted butter and then roll in cinnamon/sugar until thoroughly coated.
Enjoy!
Beth is a stay-at-home mom of three wonderfully active children ages 6, 3 and almost 1. She is married to Jason (who also writes for us here at MAD21) and spends her days teaching, changing diapers, sweeping up Cheerios, keeping peace among the kids, and whipping out gourmet meals on the side.