Thursday, December 22, 2011

What to do with pumpkin puree?

So many things happen when you puree your own pumpkin.

You get the warm roasted smell of pumpkin wafting through your house.

You get a rich, orange, smokey puree.

You get a nuanced pumpkin pie.

Sometimes, you get a little extra pumpkin after you're finished baking whatever you pureed the pumpkin for.

So what do you do with that pumpkin? As a lover of such squash flavored baked good, you can never have too much pumpkin.  Scones, pies, cookies, muffins, the list goes on, and the deliciousness continues.


(Side note: I really need to be more deliberate about taking pictures for this, these are just sad)
Muffins are the focus of this extra puree.  Rich, spicy, and topped with a streusel crumb, they are the perfect excuse to eat baked goods for breakfast. Or lunch. or an afternoon snack. Or really, a snack anytime.

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins
(Adapted from Smitten Kitchen)


Muffins
1/3 cup oil
2 tbsp ground flax seed in 1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Line a muffin tin with liners. (I used extra tall ones, mostly because I wanted to get rid of them, but they ended up being fabulous for holding the streusel topping)

Whisk together flax seed and water first.  In a medium bowl, whisk together oil, sugar, pumpkin and flax seed mixture.

Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices, and whisk until relatively smooth.

Fill liners 2/3 to 3/4 full.

Streusel Topping

6 tbsp cup butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix together all ingredients until crumbly

Sprinkle over the filled muffin cups.

All ready for the oven!


(I will admit that I can't totally verify the amount of topping this will make, as I started out with 1/4 cup butter, and then started adding things to it, so play around with the amounts until it looks right.  I thought I has a little extra, but then the muffins rose and the topping was a bit sparse. )


Bake muffins with streusel topping 25 minutes, and enjoy!

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