Shredded Pumpkin Muffins
Sorry, y’all. CT had been in these before I took a picture, because I had no intention of posting this at all until she said I had to!
We are moving, so I’m undergoing the distressing process of eating down my freezer and main pantry as much as possible. Y’all know this is happening in direct opposition to all my instincts and training, but Ross is right that the move will be easier if I just suck it up and replenish my stores when we’re in the new place. There’s a lot of pumpkin I need to get through still, though this is the last of what was in the freezer. The rest are still whole, wondering if I forgot about them. I didn’t, and they should know that since I check them for soft spots every week or two.
Anyway, I have been trying really hard, also, to streamline my “what the heck am I going to feed this kid for breakfast today?!?!?!?!” issue I’m having, so I’ve been favoring light baked goods made ahead of time. Pumpkin that needs to be used up and light baked goods smacks strongly of muffins to me!
So muffins it is. I’m also in a routine of filling Nana’s freezer with good meals and other foods that she doesn’t have to cook herself. Nana hated to cook long before she was old, so I feel like it’s perfectly fine for me to make a bit of extra foods and save them up in the freezer from week to week so she doesn’t have to cook for herself. Muffins also are great for that, and great for using up the last of this frozen pumpkin!
I did not freeze this already pureed, but you’re welcome to use canned or fresh puree if that’s what you want to do. It’s exactly what I do if that’s what’s in my freezer, too.
I made this, honestly with the expectation that the majority of the batch would go to Nana than would stay home with me, but I guess the smell got to Child Tester too much for her to keep working on her English homework, and she asked if she could have one. Of course!
She raved about this muffin, took another, and told me only to give Nana 4 of my first batch (had enough pumpkin for 2 batches). That’s weird for her, as she normally wants people to have lots and lots of the stuff she likes, so I said okay. Only 4 for Nana, and if I need to make the next batch after I see her then it’s okay because I can individually wrap and freeze each one. No bigs at all!
NOTE: there is no spice in this recipe that you normally associate with pumpkin things. I like the taste of pumpkin, so I don’t get why we always have to cover it up. You can and should swap out my spice choice with that of your own if so inclined!
NOTE 2.0: it doesn’t have to be pumpkin. It can be any kind of squash. Pumpkin just happens to be what I have an abundance of. Zucchini? Check. Butternut? Check. Spaghetti? Go for it. Really just use the squashes you have on hand.
Here’s what you’ll need
1 cup milk kefir (or other cultured milk, or even fresh milk!) - mine was dramatically over-fermented, which is why I used it here
1/4 cup oil
1 egg, room temperature
1-2 teaspoons (I have no idea; might’ve been a tablespoon) of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup of shredded or pureed pumpkin
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 cups sifted (haha) all-purpose flour or GF all-purpose substitute
Here’s what you’ll do
Preheat oven to 400F/200C/GM6, and oil a standard sized muffin pan. Whisk together the egg, kefir, and oil, then whisk in the vanilla, cardamom, salt, sugar, and pumpkin. Sometimes I hold the pumpkin out until the rest is combined, sometimes I don’t: your call what you do here. Stir together (or not!) your baking powder and flour, then fold them into the bowl of wet stuff. You’re going to use the muffin method here, so I’m linking a video in case some of y’all don’t know what that is. Muffins that are overmixed are tough and not fun to do anything but bread pudding with, so use this method please. You will note that I do this a little differently because I don’t put the sugar in with the flour like you’re meant to, but mainly I need you to know how to stir the flour in properly so your muffins aren’t dense and omg-no. You can rearrange the order to conform better to the full muffin method if you’d like!
Bake time!
Put your batter in the oiled muffin tin. I personally like to do this with a portion scoop that’s around 1/4-1/3 cup in volume, but you can use a measuring cup or you can pour it or whatever method y’all are accustomed to. No matter the method you choose, you’re looking for each divot to be around 2/3 full.
Once that’s done, toss (not literally) those bad boys in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. You’ll know they’re done if they’ve pulled away from the sides and a skewer or similar put through the middle of the tallest one will come back out clean. Cool on a rack for 10-15 minutes in the pan, then use a long-tined fork to gently knock each one out. Finish cooling on the rack (or not!) and them nom out!
