Recipe: Pumpkin Pie Muffins

Pumpkin Pie Muffins
Source: rec.food.cooking/JW (Julie)
Adapted from Mostly Muffins by B. Albright and L. Weiner
Makes 12 muffins. These muffins freeze well.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons buttermilk powder
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup unsalted butter -- melted and cooled
1/4 cup water
2 large eggs -- lightly beaten
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans -- or walnuts
3/4 cup raisins -- plumped

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease twelve 3x1-1/4-inch (3-1/2- to 4-ounce) muffin cups (a "regular" muffin pan).

In a large bowl, stir together flour, buttermilk powder, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. In another bowl, stir together pumpkin, butter, water, eggs, maple syrup and vanilla extract until blended. Make a well in center of dry ingredients; add pumpkin mixture and stir just to combine. Stir in pecans and raisins.

Spoon batter into muffin cups; bake 20 to 25 minutes (I usually bake them for 20 minutes -jlw), or until a cake tester inserted in center of one muffin comes out clean.

Remove muffin pan to wire rack. Cool 5 minutes before removing muffins from cups; finish cooling muffins on wire rack. Serve them, or cool completely and store in an airtight container at room temperature.

The original recipe used lightly salted butter or margarine instead of unsalted butter, 1/4 cup buttermilk (instead of 2 tablespoons buttermilk powder and 1/4 cup water), molasses instead of maple syrup, and chopped pitted dates instead of plumped raisins.

NOTES : To prevent the buttermilk powder from forming clumps in the batter, I combine the flour and buttermilk powder with a wire whisk before adding the other ingredients.