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!