Pumpkin Muffins

I'm sensing a common theme in this blog so far..

..squash.

But can you blame me? It's the season for squash! And with the rain falling and the wind blowing, all I've been craving lately is squash. It's sweet, it's hearty, it's healthy, it's incredibly cheap right now.

Did I mention it's delicious?

Last night I got hit with another 'I have got to stop studying, for twenty minutes. I just want to bake!' urge. So I did! Again, Smitten Kitchen to the rescue! Her recipes are truly amazing. I did make quite a few changes to the recipe, of course, because I am on a constant mission to make things just a tad bit healthier. Unless it's that espresso chiffon cake I made last week... I'll post about that one someday soon! Maybe when I get a camera--what a perfect excuse to make that cake again!

Ok. Back to muffins. I substituted whole wheat flour, and played around with the sugar amounts, and overall they turned out pretty good! They have a great texture--light and moist inside, with a nice crisp top. They're pretty hearty from the whole wheat flour, and are definitely not as sweet as I was expecting, but I think they make a great breakfast muffin. I am bummed that the pumpkin flavor didn't come through more, but I'm not sure how to remedy that..

Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/2c whole wheat flour
1/3c canola oil (it's all i had--I'm sure vegetable oil would work just as well)
1tsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt
1/2tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1/2c + 2-3 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2c raw sugar
1/8c pure maple syrup
1c pumpkin puree
1tbsp cinnamon
1tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

Directions:
Yield: 12 muffins, plus I made a little muffin patty with the extra batter..could probably yield 14 muffins total, depending on the size of your muffin pan.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin cups with muffin liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, pumpkin, salt, baking powder, baking soda, spices and sugar (minus the 2-3 tbsp extra raw sugar). Whisk in the flour until just combined. Spoon batter into cups, filling each almost to the top. Using the leftover raw sugar, sprinkle a small amount of sugar on the top of each muffin. Bake for 25-30 minutes, rotating halfway through. They're finished when a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Let them cool in the muffin pan for about five minutes, then transfer them to a wire cooling rack. These are delicious when they're still slightly warm!

Enjoy!