Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

I'm not sure which I like more - the cats or the muffins. It seems every Ross, Marshalls, and TJ Maxx have these little boxes of cupcake decorations. When I first saw them, I thought it was a fantastic idea and made my own out of scrapbook paper and toothpicks. They are cute, but not quite as this set of cats that a dear friend gave me. This is definitely the kind of thing best shared so I waited until my mom and sister were visiting to use them for pumpkin muffins.

Pumpkin Muffins

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used a whole-wheat blend)

3/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoons molasses

1) Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices. 

2) In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, soy milk, oil, and molasses. 

3) Add wet ingredients to dry and mix.

4) Pour into muffin pan, either papered or greased. Bake at 400°F for 18 to 20 minutes until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

Pumpkin + Kidney Beans + Kale

This year for Halloween I got a couple of little pie pumpkins. I painted the outside - a bat and a ghost - so that I could still use them in the kitchen later. I peeled and chopped them, and put them in the crock pot with enough water to cover the bottom. A few hours later, they were soft yumminess. This thing didn't even need any butter or salt or anything else! I was spooning it out of the pot! 

It made a lovely combination with kidney beans and kale. I simply put it all in a pan together over medium heat until the kale was cooked and the beans were hot. I added salt and pepper. This is the type of dinner that makes me feel good because I'm eating healthy foods, lots of lovely colors, and enjoying every bite! 

twd ~ Rewind: Pumpkin Muffins

This week, we're mixing it up. All twd bakers will be rewinding to a recipe of their choice.

My pick was easy. I made Pumpkin Muffins for my sister's visit at the end of October. I made them ahead and froze them. I just had to read that again, it sounds so funny coming from me. Ms. Last Minute made muffins ahead of time and prepared. Well, this was a month ago when life (and work) was a little less busy.

Back to the muffins, which were delicious! I added dried cranberries instead of raisins, and they worked great.

Pumpkin-Feta Muffins

This past weekend on my trip to NYC, my sister welcomed me in with wonderful treats. I felt very special that she baked something especially for me, and had it there waiting under a cute little welcome sign.

One of the treats were Pumpkin-Feta Muffins. They were absolutely amazing! These are savory muffins, but can were great for breakfast with Dave's famous cheesey eggs as well as an afternoon snack. I really like the bits of pumpkin and feta coming out, and the seeds on top.

The recipe is from 101 Cookbooks. My sis used an old trick from Martha Stewart by cutting 5x5 inch squares to line the muffin tin. It made for a very rustic, pretty presentation.

twd ~ Mini Caramel Pumpkin Pies

Janell of Mortensen Family Memoirs picked Caramel Pumpkin Pie for this week's TWD. Oh, Janell, thank you.

Thank you for picking such a wonderful seasonal dessert. Pumpkin in October!

Thank you for making it one that's so easy to mini-fy.

Thank you for making it one so good that everyone in my women's group now thinks I'm a great baker.



I stuck to the recipe this time, except that I cheated a little on the crust. Since I was baking it during the week for a meeting, I bought pie crust and cut circles out, like cookies, and put them in my muffin tin. It made perfect little caramel pumpkin pies that were a huge hit! A couple of people even took some for the ride home. This was two yums up!

Pumpkin Bread - from fresh pumpkins!

Instead of carving this year, we painted our pumpkins for Halloween. So instead of having a decaying mound of orange flesh, we had two lovely, plump pumpkins. I'd never cooked with fresh pumpkin before so I called my Granny for tips. She's used pumpkins to make pumpkin pie by peeling and boiling the meat. She suggested baking the pumpkins, skin-side up, on a baking tray. That's just what I did, at 375. We had two sizes of pumpkins - the smaller took one hour, the larger (jack-o-lantern size) took 1.5 hours until soft. Beware though - a LOT of pumpkin juice came out of these, over the baking sheet and into the bottom of the oven. Ah, time to see if that self-cleaning thing actually works!

After the pumpkin cooled I mashed it up. There was a lot - about 4 cups. One cup went into the pumpkin bread using a recipe Fanny Farmer recipe. It is hands-down the BEST pumpkin bread I've even eaten. My sister found the recipe a few years ago and now it's a family favorite. It's moist and flavorful without being too sweet.

I made three small loaves from one recipe. It hasn't lasted long! I believe there is just one small slice left...which I will make disappear very shortly...

Pumpkin Bread (adapted from a Fannie Farmer recipe)

1.5 cup flour

.5 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup pumpkin puree

.5 cup olive oil

2 eggs, beaten

.25 cup water

.25 tsp. nutmeg

.25 tsp. cinnamon

.25 tsp. allspice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
2. Combine flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda. Whisk.
3. Mix pumpkin puree, oil, eggs, .25 cup of water, and spices in a separate bowl.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry. Fold in ingredients until just combined. Do not mix thoroughly.
5. Pour into a well-buttered 9x5x3 loaf pan.
6. Bake 50-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
7. Cool on a rack and enjoy!