Pumpkin and apple muffins - like pumpkin scones in muffin form. They'll warm you kitchen with the lovely spicy aroma of cinnamon. Whenever you eat them they're sure to delight.
The humble pumpkin seems to be one of the only vegetables that's consistently a decent price at the moment and means I always have some in the fridge.
Pumpkin scones or pumpkin and feta loaf would have to be two of my favourite ways to bake with it but they're both slightly on the savoury side.
I needed a pumpkin recipe for something sweet - enter pumpkin apple muffins.
It was a good thing I made up my mind.
If I'd waited much longer I think the pumpkin might have grown legs and walked out the door.
I've never seen anything like it before.
You can probably guess what I did with the insides of the pumpkin.
Yes quite a few little sprouts are now buried in the garden.
I may have done a little sneaky seed planting in other ares too.
I'm just spreading the pumpkin love.
How to prepare pumpkin
To get him ready for baking, I sliced it in half, dug out the babies and placed the two halves face-down on a baking sheet.
I baked them at 180C fan-forced for about an hour (til a knife went through them easily).
Then let them cool, scooped out the flesh and pureed it in the blender (I froze the leftovers in ½ or 1 cup bags).
The other reason I chose muffins was so I'd have an excuse to use the cute pink and white cases mum gave me a few months ago (see I really am digging into my supply).
Aren't they pretty?
They're actually not hard to make.
Here's how to make your own cafe style muffin case.
I'm a sucker for anything with cinnamon and other warming spices like cardamom and ginger so I was practically drooling as these were baking.
The smell drifting from the oven would warm any winter day or fit well with the wet weather we've been having recently.
I could barely wait for them to cool before biting into them.
Actually that's another good thing about muffins, you don't have to wait for them to be totally cool before you dig in.
These babies were dense and sweet but the spices made them so homely while the apples gave them little bursts of crunch.
Can you freeze them?
Muffins are best eaten on the day of baking.
I wrapped them up and popped them in the freezer ready for quick breakfasts and slightly naughty snacks.
Enjoy!
What about you?
Have you ever cut into a fruit to see it has sprouted?
Do you like to bake with pumpkin?
Recipe
Pumpkin and apple muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups plain flour
- ½ cup rolled oats
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 3 tbs honey
- 1 tbs pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 1 cup pumpkin not pumpkin pie filling
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 medium apples cored, and sliced into small chunks
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160C fan-forced and line a 12-hole muffin tray with muffin liners.
- Line another one with 6 (18 total).
- In one large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.
- In another bowl, stir the eggs, pumpkin puree and olive oil together.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients then fold in the apple.
- Divide the batter between the muffin cases.
- Bake the muffins for 35-40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Leave them to cool on a wire rack for a little before devouring.
Karli says
I made these today because I wanted to use up some spare pumpkin. I was very happy with this recipe as I had every ingredient in my house already - no shopping required! These are tasty muffins that have not been overly sweetened. My mum loved them. Thanks for posting the recipe.
Claire says
Glad you liked them Karli!
Shelby says
Muffins are always a great choice and these look delish!