Pumpkin Muffins

It's that time of year again.So much so that I could have actually posted this recipe several weeks ago already, but I have to apologize-this blog has been a little neglected lately. I will need to make a better point of fitting it back into my life, but it has been hard recently because I got a full-time job a few months back, and just feel like my life, work-wise, is pretty full right now, and I seldom have energy for this space in the evenings. I hope to change that though! 

Anyway, these muffins are absolutely fabulous. I have been making them at least once every fall for the past several years (albeit not always with candy pumpkins on top!). They are simple--literatlly take minutes to whip up with a whisk and wooden spoon, as there is no butter to soften and mix in, just canola oil, which whisks perfectly. I usually sub in 1/2 a cup of rye flour (as I have specified in the recipe) because it gives them a wonderful deep brown colour, which suits pumpkin muffins perfectly. This recipe is also great in loaf form, or as a little cake, so feel free to experiment! Just adjust your baking time accordingly.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unbleached wheat flour
• 1/2 cup whole grain rye flour or whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp each cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, allspice
• 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon, for the topping

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and grease two muffin tins (24 holes in all). Or, line with muffin papers, but I prefer to just grease the tins.
2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, pumpkin, oil and eggs. Then gradually stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture.
4. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling them only 2/3 to 3/4 full. 
5. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on the tops of the unbaked muffins.
6. Bake the muffins at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Enjoy!