*Celebratory* Pumpkin Muffins

So before the earnest onset of the great plague of 2009, I had a real reason to celebrate! When I checked my email after leaving the gym on Tuesday night (yes I know I have an email problem if I can’t make it out of the parking lot of the gym without checking my email on my iPhone) I had an unexpected email from a staffer at the Baltimore Sun.

It turns out that through a technicality, I had won a free ad campaign on baltimoresun.com as part of the Mobbies contest! It’s sort of complicated, but I’m going to get the ad campaign for the winner of the Personal category because the actual winner, City that Breeds also won another category. So even though it’s not a straight up win, we still get the ad campaign, which we’re pretty psyched about.

So what do I do to celebrate something big around here? Well bake of course! And since I’ve had a certain October induced itch to bake something pumpkiny and I had a new and unused mini muffin pan, the choice seemed obvious. It was time for some *celebratory* pumpkin mini muffins! Due to the spur-of-the-moment nature of the decision, it was a good thing I have a trusty favorite pumpkin muffin recipe waiting in the wings for me to turn to!

Pumpkin Mini Muffins
Adapted, just barely, from Smitten Kitchen

I just love this recipe, because it’s so easy to put together–I think it seriously mixes up in five minutes flat–and it doesn’t require anything out of the ordinary other than canned pumpkin, and who doesn’t have a can of pumpkin lurking in the pantry this time of the year? And the end result is so yummy, no one will guess how easy it was to make!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin (just make sure you’re not using pumpkin pie filing!!)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used canola)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• pinch of cloves
• 1 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:
Put oven in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Generously grease mini muffin pan–Pam for Baking works great for this.

Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, spices except for last teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.

Stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in another bowl.

Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about three-fourths full), then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown and wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes.

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

Take to work to share with your co-workers to get everyone in the Fall spirit!

Do you have a favorite pumpkin recipe that you would like to share? If so, send it my way and I might try it out in the Ratskellar kitchen! We’re always looking for new favorites!

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