Eden is getting to be proficient in the kitchen. She can read a recipe, follow the directions and come out with something edible almost every time. She has been making this recipe for a while. We enjoy them for breakfast, but today she is making them for a mid-morning snack break tomorrow, while we have friends visiting.
These muffins have two wonderful fall flavors: cranberry and pumpkin. The pumpkin adds sweetness, and the cranberries give a tart “pop” to the muffins. They are much better chopped rather than whole.
Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins
Slightly adapted from The Farmhouse Cookbook by Susan Hermann Loomis
Makes 12 large muffins
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour (we use half whole-wheat pastry flour)
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¾ cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 ¼ cups canned pumpkin puree (we use fresh baked pumpkin)
½ cup milk
2 cups cranberries, coarsely chopped
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prepare a muffin tin with pan spray and muffin cups. Sift together the dry ingredients, including sugar.
Whisk together oil, eggs, pumpkin and milk. Add wet to dry and mix quickly and well. Fold in the cranberries. Fill the muffin tins two-thirds full with batter.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before unmolding and serving.
These can also be made with frozen cranberries and (thawed) frozen pumpkin puree. We have had good success substituting blueberries as well. They give a great taste of the combinations of fall flavors that we love.
As a side note — the next step for kids in the kitchen after learning to read a recipe and put it together well is to plan a meal and be able to schedule the timing for each step. That is the step we are working on with the older kids now. Do you have a secret trick for how to plan meals to be ready at the right time? Please leave a comment.
