Monday, November 23, 2015

Pumpkin Carrot Spice Muffins are...

...the bomb.com according to the adorable, food savvy Alaska Jones Girls. They are the daughters of my dear friends Brian and Colleen. The whole family is food savvy with a need for good flavor with a dash of fun. I was glad to get their approval.

The recipe was adopted from The Lovely Little Kitchen by Julie. She in turn got the recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction. Julie modified Sally's recipe and I modified Julie's. The main modification that I made is the adding of shredded carrot. See what you think.
Remove two large tablespoons of pumpkin from the can. It will yield about 1/14 cups. My dogs, Izzy and Mouse, gladly eat the scoops of pumpkin.

One carrot grated.

Spices are nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and ginger.

Please note that this batter is very very thick. My spoon was captured by it.

Pumpkin Carrot Spice Muffins

·      1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar 
·       1/2 cup dark brown sugar (I used 1 1/2 cups loosely packed brown sugar (not the dark). In fact the next time that I make them I think I will reduce the sugar by 1/2 cup)
·       1 teaspoon baking soda
·       1/2 teaspoon salt
·       2 teaspoons cinnamon
·       1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
·       1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
·       ¼ teaspoon ground ginger (added to the recipe)
·       2 eggs
·       1 15 ounce can pure pumpkin puree (Remove 2 heaping tablespoons from the can. This allows for the added carrot. The scooped out pumpkin goes to  my dogs Izzy and Mouse. They love pumpkin and it is so good for them, too.) 
·       1 carrot grated
·       1/2 cup coconut oil (Melting before putting in the mixture is a good idea)
·       1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

1.     Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place 12 paper liners into each well of your standard size muffin baking pan.
2.     Measure out the flour, sugars, baking soda, salt and spices in a medium bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
3.     In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin puree, coconut oil and vanilla extract.
4.     Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together. Do not over mix, just stir until everything is incorporated into the batter.
5.     It is helpful to use a large scoop (like an ice cream scoop) to evenly distribute the batter into each well. They will be nearly full. This will help give your muffins a nice puffy dome.
6.     Bake your muffins for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
   
     Quote of the Day: "Have you come to sing pumpkin carols?" Linus 
Fill the cup a little past full.

Beautiful, moist, dense muffins. Also, depending on the weather or the Great Pumpkin these vary in baking time.

    Website for The Lovely Kitchen by Julie:  lovelylittlekitchen.com
    and for Sally's Baking Addiction:  sallysbakingaddiction.com
    Both of these sites have great recipes. I highly recommend checking them out!!!!