As I was pondering what to make for our family Christmas gathering, I remembered that I still had a can of pumpkin in our pantry that I had neglected to use for Thanksgiving. I read a few variations on pumpkin breads & “donuts” etc, and decided I’d just figure out exactly what I wanted to do as I went {I’m pretty sure baking is the only arena where I don’t obsessively plan ahead :)}. One of the ideas I came across used a mini muffin pan to create bite size treats, so I knew that I wanted to do that, and I also knew that I wanted to sugar coat these babies…. so here’s what I ended up doing:
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 can [15 oz] plain pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling!)
- 1/2 cup low-fat milk
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoons ground cloves
- 4 cups Pamela's baking mix (or other all-purpose gf flour)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- Whisk together egg, vanilla, & brown sugar until creamy. Add in pumpkin, milk, & oil.
- Next add the spices {baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, & cloves} and thoroughly mix. Stir in flour gradually.
- Place in the fridge to cool for 30 min. {I always hate when I get to a step like this in a recipe, BUT it makes the dough a lot easier to work with, so here it is!}
- Preheat the oven to 350
- While oven is preheating, coat 2 mini muffin pans with cooking spray & mix sugar with cinnamon for coating.
- Using two teaspoons, take scoops of the chilled batter and roll in coating mixture
- After the scoop is completely coated, drop the coated pumpkin dough into the mini muffin pan - use spoon to gently smooth any "cracking" areas. Finally,sprinkle the top of each muffin with extra sugar mixture.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes.
- Tip: To make a 'healthier' version, simply skip the sugar coating!
- You can also make these as regular muffins, just increase baking time to around 18-22 minutes.
I of course sampled one when they came out of the oven {as did Wes} and we both agree they’re a win. The bottom of the muffins almost have a caramelized affect from the sugar, and the top was slightly crunch. Nom nom nom. Very good!
What are your other favorite “pumpkin” recipes?? I’m pretty sure this is the only time I’ve ever used it other than for making pumpkin pie, but I’d love to hear more ideas š
Pin for later –>
