Pumpkin Muffins

Cookbooks are my weakness. I love them. I can devour them like a wonderful meal or a good book. I love the pictures. I love the descriptions of the recipes. I love reading ingredients lists and descriptions on how to create something wonderful to eat. Can you tell I've gotten a new cookbook?

After my brioche, I looked up this Dorie Greenspan person who provided me with the wonderful recipe for happiness. Turns out, she is rather accomplished--she wrote the Baking with Julia cookbook (from the PBS TV series with Julia Child). I also discovered this entire online cooking club that is cooking a different recipe from her baking cookbook, Baking: From My Home to Yours, every week. I was intrigued and decided that the rest of birthday money would be well spent on THAT cookbook.

I was excited to find this pumpkin muffin recipe in there. I used my kabocha squash I cooked down on Wednesday (I steamed instead of boiled it so it would be thick enough). We loved these muffins, I didn't even follow the recipe very well because my spice cabinet needs to be restocked with fall spices (allspice, whole nutmeg, ginger...) Curtis summed it up perfectly, "These taste like fall."

Pumpkin Muffins
from Baking: From my Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

2 c flour
2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
3/4 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground ginger
1/8 t fresh grated nutmeg (I used a pinch of store bought ground nutmeg)
pinch of allspice
1/2 c unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 t vanilla
3/4 c pumpkin (or other orange winter squash, pureed and unsweetened)
1/4 c buttermilk
1/2 c raisins
1/2 c pecans, chopped
a few unsalted, unroasted sunflower seeds

Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside. Using a mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until soft. Add the sugars and continue to beat until light and smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat for a minute after the eggs are incorporated. Beat in the vanilla. Lower the mixer speed and mix in the pumpkin and buttermilk. Slowly add the dry ingredients and beat only until they are just combined. With a spatula or wooden spoon, stir in the raisins and pecans. Divide the batter evenly between 12 greased muffin cups and sprinkle a few sunflower seeds over top each one.

Bake in a preheated 400 degrees oven for about 25 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for minutes in the pan and then remove from pan and cool on rack.