Fall Comfort Food: Pumpkin Anything! Especially Pumpkin and Orange Muffins

I hate the fall. No really. I hate it. Aaron on the other hand loves it. Everything about it. The crisp air, the cozy sweaters and the deep sleep that comes with a cold night.

 I would way rather sweat it out in the summer. 

But I guess there are some good things that come with the autumn. Hot chocolate, my birthday, and soup. And one other thing that I've come to love about cooler days is being able to warm my house up with baking. Soon I will be back to baking bread every week and filling my house with cookies and brownies and treats. 

My kids have been asking to buy a pumpkin for a couple of weeks now.  Honestly, though, I'm not ready to give into autumn decor so I said no and then bought some canned pumpkin. There are tons of things you can make with pumpkin. Tons. In fact, I have a cousin who has had pumpkin potlucks. A bunch of people are invited and everyone has to bring a pumpkin dish. You would be shocked at what kinds of foods come to this potluck.  The year I went I brought a Pumpkin Chili, but there were so many other things.

I considered using my single can of pumpkin for Chili but decided one cool day this past week that I better make something good that I can send in Hazels lunch so I dug around for this recipe and was pleasantly surprised. These muffins were moist, light, and had a unique flavor that we have all come to love.

Pumpkin and Orange Muffins

1 1/2 cups of All Purpose Flour

1 tsp of Baking Powder

1 tsp of Baking Soda

1/2 tsp of Salt

1/2 tsp of Ground Cinnamon (I had no cinnamon so I threw in 2 tsp of All Spice instead of the cinnamon and the next 2 ingredients)

1/2 tsp of Nutmeg

1/2 tsp of Ginger

Raisins (OMITTED. I don't love raisins enough to add these to much of anything)

1 Egg

1/4 cup of White Sugar

1/3 cup of Cooking Oil

1 cup of Canned Pumpkin (I just threw in the whole can)

1/2 cup of Milk

1 1/2 Tbsp of Grated Orange Peel (my house smelled so good after grated this all up)

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Stir until just moistened. Pour into greased muffin tin (or silicone liners) and bake at 400 degrees for 18 or until toothpick comes out clean. 

Cool and enjoy! Like I said before, these have a different flavor but they are so so good! And pretty too!

Happy October! 

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Things that make me smile :) and Super Moist Pumpkin Muffins

About 4 weeks ago my dear friend Tina told me that she had found mini silicone muffin liners. I was shocked and excited. I've been watching for some that weren't going to make me have to starve my family for a week because of the price and she wasn't even looking and found some. In Kingston. Shocking. Where did she find these wonderful liners? Home Sense. I would never have thought to look there. I love Home Sense but am too poor to let me self go in. 

I've known for 4 weeks that the liners were there but I haven't had a chance to get over and pick some up until Friday and even then it wasn't easy.

I spent this past week sick. And then just when I thought I was feeling better Aaron caught the bug. We spent the week laying around and feeding our kids junk because we were too sick to do or make anything. By Friday the fridge was empty, the pantry was raided (Thanks to Nigel who, at 2 is already eating everything) and it was clearly time to venture out of the house if we wanted to survive. 

I showered, dressed and by then was ready to crash. But then I remembered that my kids were starving so we grabbed jackets and my grocery list and headed out. We had about 5 places to go to with Home Sense being the last place on the list. When we finally got there Hazel was crying to go home and Nigel was crying to go in. I was tempted just to leave but I was  actually in the parking lot so we just went for it. 

I walked in, found someone who worked there and asked where the mini silicone muffin liners were and found out that they were cheaper than Tina thought! Dragging the kids in was worth it already. Well, there were 2 different brands and one was cheaper. They also only had 4 dozen left. Exactly what I wanted; 4 dozen liners would fill my 2 mini muffin pans. (I know that I technically can use them without the pans but in reality I need the pans. Don't ask me why, I just do)

So my trip was worth it. I am loving these adorable little liners, and I had to bake some muffins pronto:

Super Moist Pumpkin Muffins

1 1/2 cups of All-Purpose Flour (I should have used Whole Wheat)

1 tsp of Baking Soda

1 tsp of Baking Powder

1/2 tsp of Salt

1/2 tsp of Cinnamon (triple this, they need it)

1/2 tsp of Nutmeg

1/2 tsp of Ginger (I couldn't find my Nutmeg or Ginger so I used 1 tsp of All-Spice)

1/2 cup of Raisins (Omitted. I can't handle raisins where they don't belong. Which is everywhere except my moms Raisin Cookies)

1 Egg

1/4 cup of White Sugar

1/3 cup of Cooking Oil 

1 Cup of Canned Pumpkin (My can had almost 3 cups in it so I put the extra in a ziplock bag and it is in my freezer for later)

1/2 cup of Milk

Combine all of your ingredients in a large bowl. Mix until just moist. Lightly grease your muffin pans. or...

Fill muffins cups with batter 3/4 full. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

YUM! 

This recipe made 36 mini muffins. I have froze almost 2 dozen and the  rest we are enjoying right now.

p.s. The muffin liners at Home Sense cost $4.99/dozen for 1 brand and $6.99/dozen for the other. The woman who helped me said that they only randomly carry them and that Winners also has them occasionally. 

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Virginia's Delicious Cranberry Muffins

This is not my favorite day. Isn't it terrible to wake up to crying kids? Especially when they cry all day about everything? Ugh! But, I am going to post this recipe anyway because it is DELICIOUS and then I'm going to take a mental break and hope that when I'm done my kids will be wonderful, sweet and fun again. Think it will work?

My Cousin-in-law (is that who you are?) sent me this recipe, well, she sent me her modification of this recipe and I gave it a try the other day and they turned out so good. They are moist; just sweet enough; and actually, already almost all gone. They were a hit around here and I think they will be in anyones family.

Virginia's Delicious Cranberry Muffins

(the original recipe came from Company's Coming, this though is Virginia's version)

2 cups of Whole Wheat Flour

1/4 cup of Brown Sugar

4 tsp of Baking Powder

1/2 tsp of Salt

Measure into a large bowl. Make a well in the center.

2 Large Eggs (beat until frothy)

1/4 cup of Cooking Oil

1/2 cup of Milk

1 can of Whole Cranberry Sauce (I'm not a cranberry sauce person but in this recipe YUM)

Mix above ingredients in a medium bowl. Add to dry ingredients. Stir just to moisten. Batter will be lumpy. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Topping 

(I didn't do this on all the muffins, and though it makes them sparkle and look pretty it really isn't necessary for flavor)

Brush hot muffin tops with margarine. Sprinkle with white sugar

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Need a snack? How about a Best Ever Zucchini Muffin?

How do you feel about muffins? Well at our house muffins are a staple snack. My 5 year old daughter thinks that she must have a muffin for her afternoon snack at school. This isn't an option in her mind. There must be a muffin. Or 2 mini muffins. But rarely has anything else ever passed her approval for an appropriate afternoon snack during a busy school day. So we bake muffins at least once a week. NEVER buy a muffin from the grocery store, you may think it looks good but they always end up greasy/slimy and I'm confident that muffins are not supposed to be like that. 

We have a couple of favorite muffin recipes here. My 2 year old son wants Blueberry Muffins and my daughter is ofter heard asking for Zucchini. I've heard her explain to her friends why they are green and that "don't worry; you can't taste the zucchini". That kid cracks me up. 

So let me share with you our favorite Zucchini Muffin Recipe. It is actually a "Company's Coming" recipe and we all love it for different reasons. The kids like them because they are greenish and taste good. perfect. I like them because they are fast to make, smell amazing when baking, I can make a double batch with just 1 zucchini, and the recipe calls for whole wheat flour as well as all-purpose. I love whole wheat flour. I'm such a sucker for any recipe that uses it. 

Best Ever Zucchini Muffin

1 cup of All Purpose Flour

1 cup of Whole Wheat Flour

1 1/2 tsp of Baking Powder

1/2 tsp of Baking Soda

1 tsp of Ground Cinnamon (I usually add more than this because I like cinnamon)

1/2 tsp of Ground Allspice (I add a bit more of this too for the same reason as the cinnamon)

1 tsp of Salt

1 large Egg

1/4 cup of Cooking Oil

1/2 of White Sugar (I usually use a bit less than this, about 1/3 cup)

1 cup of Grated Zucchini, with peel (about 1/2 of a zucchini)

1/2 cup of Milk

Measure together the first 7 ingredients in a large bowl. stir together thoroughly. Make a well in  the center. 

Beat egg in medium bow until frothy. Mix in last 4 ingredients. Pour into the well of the flour mixture. Stir to just moisten. Batter will be lumpy. Fill your muffin cups 3/4 full. (I SWEAR by silicone muffin liners. If you keep an eye open you can get them for a good deal. I bought mine at Liquidation World for less than $3.00 for 12) Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

Okay, now I must explain something. I did say these were FAST muffins to make and I'll tell you why. I've long learned that these muffins don't really require you to mix the dry and liquid ingredients separate. Just measure and dump everything in a bowl, stir it up and get them in the oven. 

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