December is all about food. Whether you are making cookies for an exchange or stew to stay warm or cake for a holiday party, the focus is on eating. It's probably related to wanting to hibernate. Sometimes it's somewhat complicated, so this recipe is a nice balance.
You need one mixing bowl and just a whisk or a mixing spoon- no mixer required, so clean up is super easy and the results are delicious. I whipped these up on Saturday morning, and I wasn't even all the way awake. I hope you find them just as easy.
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
1 C pureed pumpkin*
1/3 C vegetable oil
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp pumpkin-pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 C plus 1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 C flour**
1 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350F and line a muffin tin with liners. In a small bowl, stir together cinnamon and 1 Tbsp sugar.
Whisk together the pumpkin, oil, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and 1 1/4 C sugar in a large bowl. Add in the vinegar and flour and whisk until just combined.
Spoon batter into muffin cups. They should be about 3/4 full. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture on top. Bake on center rack for 25-30 minutes. Muffins will be puffed and slightly golden, and a cake tester inserted into the middle will come out clean.
Remove from oven and cool for about 5 minutes. Remove muffins from pan and allow to finish cooling on a rack.
*I used more of my baked pumpkin but you can also use a can
**I don't have any all purpose left because I made challah this weekend, so I used white whole wheat and they came out great.
Can the apple cider vinegar be substituted with something else? Maybe honey or oil?
ReplyDeleteHi Jen! You can substitute any kind of vinegar or use lemon juice in place of the apple cider vinegar. Honey or oil won't work because in this case the vinegar reacts with the baking soda to create lots of little bubbles. The effervesce gives the muffin batter a lift and replicates some of the work that eggs traditionally do in baking. Remember those grade school experiments involving baking soda, vinegar, and an erupting paper mache volcano? That's what we're doing here on a smaller scale. Does that make sense?
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