Pumpkin Muffins

My first-grader, Libby, came home from school a few weeks ago in a panic. "Mom! Mom! It's my teacher's birthday this weekend. We HAVE to make her something." I quickly thought through the options of things I could make, taking into account what ingredients I had on hand, and quickly settled on these Pumpkin Muffins. (The recipe makes two dozen muffins, so we were able to keep half the recipe for ourselves. Yay!) Libby and I mixed them up, baked them and then sent them off to school the next day.

Evidently, they were a hit with Libby's teacher. If you love pumpkin-flavored treats, this will make you very happy!

Pumpkin Muffins
Source: Adapted from my trusty "Betty Crocker's New Cookbook"

1 16 oz. can pumpkin puree
1-⅔ cup sugar
⅔ cup canola oil
2 tsp. vanilla

4 eggs

3 cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground cloves

½ tsp. baking powder

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tins and set aside.

Mix pumpkin, sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl. In a second bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour flour mixture into wet mixture and stir until combined. 

Pour batter into prepared muffin tins. Place in oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Loosen muffins from pans and remove to wire rack until completely cool.

Tip: I adapted this from a Pumpkin Bread recipe. To make bread instead of muffins, divide mixture between two 8-inch loaf pans. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack before removing loaves to wire rack to cool completely before slicing. ... Make muffins. They bake and cool much faster!

Quick Start with MSPI Mama: This is one of my Quick Start recipes.