Pumpkin Muffins

I kept it simple and just carved the one pumpkin this year, I think I was too overwhelmed by the choices and dazzling designs on my previous post!  In the end there wasn't much time left over to go wild with Halloween displays, and I knew that ultimately with it falling on a wet and cold Monday this year, there would be few Trick or Treaters calling by.  Hence I am also left with too many sweets leftover from a poor turn out this year!

I just treated myself to Ed Roth's 'Stencil 101' book after lusting after it for some time and so used one of his stencils to make a more contemporary pumpkin this year.  I think my carving skills need a lot more practice, maybe next year Baby Wild can paint them instead.

Bad carving aside, I now had a reason to bake.  I've been in a bit of a fug the past few days, and generally been moping around the house seemingly unable to achieve anything.  I like baking on dark evenings so set about whipping up a storm in the kitchen last night to cheer myself up.  I got a bit carried away and made a few batches of meals for the rest of the week, with the excuse of maximising the oven whilst it was switched on.

I used this recipe from The Curvy Carrot as my starting point for the Pumpkin Muffins, but strayed far and wide as the original states American measurements rather than grams and ounces.  It was the healthiest and least complicated recipe I could find in my warped and miserable state.  At the best of times I'm not very technical when it comes to measuring ingredients so it's always a bit hit or miss!  Here's my interpretation using Daddy Native's Granny's china tea cups to measure the dry ingrediants...

1. Cream 100g butter with 1/2 cup normal (or half & half in this case) sugar with 1/4 cup soft brown sugar.
2. One by one slowly add 2 eggs, a generous drop of vanilla essence, then continue to whisk or beat for a few minutes before adding pureed or mashed & roasted pumpkin, about 200 mls.  This will provide the moisture and negate the need for adding any further oil or butter to the mixture.
3. Sift together 2 cups of flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, some freshly grated nutmeg, & a pinch of allspice for good measure; and gently mix it all into the creamed butter.
4. Stir in a handful of raisins, and either pumpkin seeds or walnuts depending on what's open in the cupboard and divide the mixture into muffins cases (already lining the muffin tin of course).  Alternatively you could pour the mixture into a greased and lined loaf tin.  I did both, and got 6 muffins and a small loaf with these measurements.  Muffins to give away to family and a wee loaf that slices well to fit into lunch boxes. 
5. Sprinkle the top of the mixture with pumpkin or sunflower seeds, before baking for about 20 minutes at something like 180 degrees with fan oven.  Like I said, I was cooking 3 separate meals in the oven at this stage so I'm guessing with the temperature.  Best to follow your usual muffin recipe temperature!

Voila! Yummy scrummy healthy muffins that I don't feel guilty about giving to the toddler.  Following her behaviour after staying over night at her cousins and eating a pile of sweets, I am adamant she'll not be seeing much more sugar for a long time!  #terribletwos

Zombie family

PS - for an even easier and cheaper dark evening baking session, check out my wild apple tart recipe on the other blog.

Spinach & Carrot Muffins

How to bake yourself out of a fug when the weather sucks but you don't want to feel too guilty.....

This is a River Cottage recipe.  I wasn't overly mad about the result although it did make an interesting change for our pack lunches.  I'll be trying another version soon, am trying to decide which savoury recipe to attempt next and shall report back to you.

You can add cumin or onion seeds for extra flavour and texture to this recipe.  In fact I added both last time, but then I add onion seeds to most things!  Use whatever seeds you have to hand needing used up - pumpkin seeds, sunflower, or a combination.
80g unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus 10g for frying
1 onion, finely diced
2 tsp ground cumin
150g spinach, chopped
250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1½ tsp salt
2 eggs
275g whole milk or yoghurt
150g carrots, grated
40g pumpkin seeds, toasted

Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6 and line a muffin tin with 12 paper cases.
Warm the 10g of butter in a large frying pan and sauté the onion with a pinch of salt until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the cumin, stir for a minute, then add the spinach and stir until wilted and soft. Cool.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. In a jug, whisk the melted butter, eggs and milk/yoghurt. Pour the wet ingredients over the flour and stir with a spatula until just combined. Fold in the cooled onions and spinach, the carrots and seeds. Spoon into the cases and bake for about 18 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Do you have any savoury muffin / cake / cookie recipes you could share?