Baking with mashed pumpkin adds moisture to batters and doughs, making breads, cakes and muffins healthier because of you can cut down on oil and butter, not to mention the betacarotene, but don’t let that reason alone convince you. Pumpkin adds enormous rich flavor as well.
I’m going to admit to something autumnally treasonous. I am not a fan of pumpkin pie. Please don’t hurt me. It’s a texture thing. That doesn’t mean I don’t like the flavors though so I prefer to put pumpkin in blondies, cookies, muffins, bread and cake. Adding pumpkin pie spice to this muffin batter gave me the joy I imagine folks find in pumpkin pie without that icky wobbly pie filling to endure. And the whole house smelled like Thanksgiving and Christmas while they baked. Win-win.
I can’t find pumpkin pie spice here in Dubai, so I used this recipe here for the batter and made up my own mix of spices. I’d say it was a successful substitution.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups or 190g all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
(or 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves and 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup or 225g sugar
1/2 15 oz can or almost one cup or 215g pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
2 eggs
1/4 cup or 60ml canola oil
1/4 cup or 60ml orange juice
Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin pan by greasing it thoroughly, spraying with non-stick spray or lining it with paper muffin cups.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, spices, baking soda, salt and sugar and stir well.
In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, oil, orange juice and eggs.
Pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them together until just mixed.
Bake in the preheated oven about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Cool for a few minutes and then remove the muffins and put on a rack to cool completely.
Enjoy!
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