It’s fall y’all! While I am 100% a summer girl at heart, it is time to trade the long sunny days for crisp air, falling leaves, and flannel. Pumpkin spice everything is a balm to my summer loving soul, and while the fella and I have been known to buy slices of pumpkin bread year round at Starbucks, nothing is as good as fresh made. The fall is a very busy season for us, and this weekend as we geared up for fashion week and beyond, I made about six dozen pumpkin muffins to sustain the effort.

Almost 10 years ago when I was a paralegal a colleague of mine shared her Aunt’s pumpkin bread recipe with me and it is absolutely scrumptious - however it is definitely actually cake. This is my take on it, with a bit less sugar and a bit more fiber so it can be less of an indulgent treat and more of an everyday thing. However, if you throw some cream cheese frosting on top, I won’t be mad.

Make these muffins your own, I swapped the water for buttermilk in one batch, sprinkled extra sugar in top of several for a crunchy crust, and topped some others with extra oats. This recipe makes enough for 2 dozen standard size muffins, which may sound like a lot, but I promise there will be plenty of people willing to take a few off your hands.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 cup rolled oats

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons nutmeg

1.5 cups sugar

4 eggs

1/2 cup oil (any neutral cooking oil)

1/2 cup water

2 cups pumpkin purée

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prep your muffin pan (24 standard muffins = 2 typical 12 muffin pans)

Combine the Pumpkin, sugar, water, spices, and oil in a large mixing bowl. Whisk until evenly combined. Ideally you use a neutral flavored oil - but I’ve used olive oil and coconut oil without problems. Use what you have!

Ignore the photo - add the eggs one at a time, combining after every addition.

Combine the dry ingredients (flour, oats, baking powder, salt) - mix until evenly distributed.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and stir until just barely combined. It is okay if there are still some clumps of flour, better not to overmix.

Fill the muffin tins until bout 3/4 full and bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out mostly clean. The muffins should feel sort of plush and springy when you touch it, not mushy. If you don’t have a toothpick, you can also use spaghetti.