Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Cookie Exchange 2014

While these aren't cookies, they make for amazing desserts or an eat at any time of the day snack.

I've played around with this recipe to my personal tastes, but I tend to like savory desserts so feel free to adjust to your own preferences. I wanted them because I can't have the ones at Starbucks, lol

I'm gluten free and soy free so the recipe is built around that but it'd be easy to change it to regular flour. Though I'd recommend trying it gluten free as I think the texture is better. It's less dense and fluffier, which I think is an improvement for a muffin.



Pumpkin Muffins

1 cup all purpose gluten free flour (the King Arthur's Blend, do not use the Bob's Red Mill. The texture doesn't work at all and it screws up the flavor)

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp or so ground cloves (I freshly grind my own cloves which seems to be more potent than the ground clove powder found in the store. If using the store bought, use 1 tsp)

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp or so ground nutmeg (you'll know when it has enough by smell)

1/4 tsp tumeric

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp

1 cup brown sugar (if you like sweet desserts add a couple extra Tbsp)

1 cup pumpkin puree (I HIGHLY recommend using a freshly baked sugar/pie pumpkin or butternut squash. Compared to the canned stuff you get in the store, the difference is amazing.)

2 eggs

3 tsp vanilla extract



1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with paper liners.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, spices, salt, and baking powder.

3. In a stand mixer, or large bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until smooth. It'll take up to 5 minutes. Add pumpkin puree, vanilla extract and eggs. Do NOT over mix once the eggs are in. (Otherwise it makes the batter tough and the muffins too chewy) 

4. Add in the flour mixture in batches until just mixed completely. Again, do NOT over mix.

5. Spoon in the pumpkin deliciousness (batter) into the muffin pans. Bake for 35 minutes.


Makes about one dozen muffins.


If you're feeling really decadent, you can add homemade cream cheese frosting on top. Or do what I did and hollow out the middle with a knife once the muffins cool and plop some frosting right in the middle. If you want the frosting, I recommend making the muffins on the savory spectrum so it's not overly sweet.

19 comments:

  1. My niece eats gluten free...she will be very excited when i show up with these...thanks.
    hugs abby

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    1. You're quite welcome!! They are so good! I typically double the batch when I make them and then freeze the extras. It's easy to nuke them for 20 seconds in the microwave and add the frosting then.

      If you're ever looking for gluten free recipes, let me know. I've been gluten free for 2 years, but I never cared for grains much before that anyway. So I know all the adaptions. :)

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  2. Ohh this sounds yummy. I have family that are severely gluten intolerant. Now I have something yummy in my treat arsenal, Thank you!

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    1. Same goes for you!! If you ever need recipes, let me know!!

      I make about 12 dozen cookies (4-6 different recipes) every December and they're all gluten free. There are more options than you'd think!! :D

      One year I got overly ambitious and made close to 20 dozen cookies...little too much lol

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  3. This recipe looks yummy! My oldest DIL is gluten intolerant and loves pumpkin so I will definitely be sharing this with her also. Thanks for sharing!

    Blessings...
    Cat

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    1. I bribe all my pumpkin loving friends with this recipe! I've never had anyone turn me down yet!! I hope your DIL loves them too!

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  4. I accidentally deleted a comment from my email, but Ronnie (from http://ronniesoul.blogspot.com/) posted this:

    "Thanks for sharing this. I will keep this recipe until Halloween when we get pumpkins in the UK.

    Love,
    Ronnie
    xx"

    Ronnie, in case you see this, so sorry about deleting your comment! I should know better than to try to click "Publish" from my email on my phone as the "Delete" comment is right underneath it...

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  5. They look really good, and thanks for including the king arthur flour tip.

    Hugs,
    mouse

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    1. No problem. I'd use the Bob's Red Mill for pie shells, pastries, but not much else. It's a thicker consistency, which is great for baked goods that need a heavy dough or say sauces that need thickening. It uses bean flour and that just doesn't work for things like cookies and cakes.

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  6. These look yummy, thanks!

    and thanks for playing along. :-)

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  7. Gluten free and soy free is perfect. I will definitely try these, thanks for sharing! :)

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  8. Just a note of warning, not all baking soda and baking powders are gluten free. Not all spices are either, especially if they are generic brands. Please read every label, and even foods processed in factories with gluten products can be a problem for people.

    I don't think about those things any more because they're part of my daily patterns. You'd be frankly surprised with how much in a grocery has gluten and soy in it. While not everyone is affected by soybean oil and soy lecithin, you may want to avoid them entirely if you're making food for someone else. You never know how sensitive someone may be.

    For me, I can't have soybean oil at all. And most of the time soy lecithin is bad. I can tolerate it in very small doses, on very rare occasions.

    And watch out for powered sugar. Some of them use flour as a filler. Some brands will say gluten free on them thankfully. I've even had to watch out for a few brown sugars.

    Yet people wonder why I don't like eating out anywhere lol

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    1. I've been gluten free since 2005, so I'm aware.

      Soy is something I don't have to avoid personally, but I have a family member who does. She can tolerate soy lecithin, but that's it for soy ingredients (definitely no soybean oil).

      Eating out certainly can be a challenge! Anyway, thanks again! :)

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  9. these sound absolutely delicious, .thank you for sharing

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  10. This looks really good, Grace! And I love your idea of putting the frosting in the muffins. I will be trying these. Many hugs,

    <3 Katie

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  11. Love pumpkin so will have to try these. Having a gluten free recipe is a great idea as so many have to remove it from their diets. Thanks for sharing the recipe. BTW, I love the woman with wings at the header of your blog! :D

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  12. O, i'm excited about this! My favorite coffee shop sells a gluten-free pumpkin with chocolate chips in it, so it's cool to have a recipe for something similar. :-)

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  13. Perfect recipe since it is gluten free which is how my husband eats. He will love these muffins, thank you so much.

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  14. Couldn't be more excited to try these. Thank you!

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