Pumpkin Muffins

By dette

You don't need to wait for autumn to celebrate the spirit of the harvest. Create your own holiday season amyt time of year with these golden muffins.
For a touch of texture, and to give more of an intriguing bitter edge to the muffins, coarsely chop the orange zest rather than grating it. The easiest way to do this is to shave off the outermost peel with a vegetable peeler and then to chop the shavings into smaller piecs with a sharp knife.
Cooked sweet potato or witner suash can be substituted for the pumpkin.
canola oil can be substituted for some or all of the butter

Ingredients

• Nonstick spray
• 2 c. unbleached all=purpose flour
• 1/2 tp salt (rounded measure)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 3-4 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp chopped orange zest
• 1/3 c. (packed) dark brown sugar
• 1 c mashed pumpkin
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Details

Servings 8
Preparation time 15mins
Cooking time 35mins

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray 8 standard (2 1/2" diam) muffin cups with nonstick spray

Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, spices, granulated sugar, and orange zest in a medium-sized bowl. Crumble in the brown sugar and mix with a fork or you fingers until thoroughly blended.

Measure the pumpkin into a second medium-sized bowl. Add the egg, mik and vanilla and beat with a fork or a whisk until smooth.

Slowly pour this mixture, along with the melted butter, into the dry ingredients. Using a spoon or a rubber spatula, stir from the bottom of the bowl, until the dry ingredients are all moistenend. Don't overmix, a few lumps are okay.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. For asmaller muffins, fill the cups about four-fifths full. For larger muffins, fill them up to the top. If you have extra batter, spray one or two additional muffin cups with nonstick spray and fill with the remaining batter.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly browned on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the pan from the oven, then remove themuffins from the pan and place them on a rack to cool. 'Wait at least 30 minutes before serving.