Pumpkin Spice Muffins- Allergy Friendly
But before PSLs were trendy, I was making pumpkin spice bread. I think most Americans my age were raised with quick breads on the Thanksgiving table. In my family it was banana bread and cream cheese that were always a fixture on my Aunt Sue’s Thanksgiving spread, right beside the relish tray. When I became an adult, cousins were going off and getting married, having babies and coming back with several more bodies in tow, we outgrew my Aunt Sue and Uncle Bob’s cozy brick home where we had all grown up spending most of our holiday meals. That’s when families began splitting off into groups of parents, kids, and grandkids again, and suddenly it was MY turn to start contributing substantially to the holiday meals. Is this what it feels like to officially graduate from the kids’ table? I can’t do anything as expected, so along with the relish, the banana walnut bread, the brined turkey, stuffing(yes, stuffing, y’all. Dressing is for salads) from scratch, and mountains of mashed potatoes and Grandma B’s ultra buttery corn casserole we all make sure is present, I did something different. Enter pumpkin spice bread. A year later, I had perfected it to our liking, and since my sisters and I had each added a couple babies to the crew, I made it into muffins for little hands. For the last eleven years, these have been a fixture in our home. Add a handful more kids to my own home, mix it up with some food allergies, and this pumpkin spice goodness has had a serious facelift from its original form, but it still just wouldn’t be fall without a whole lot of these.
Dairy allergy? No problem! Use your favorite oil(we like coconut) instead of butter! Gluten sensitivity? Easy-peasy. Just sub the all purpose flour with a good 1-to-1 gluten free baking flour mix like my own super simple GF baking flour mix and bake for a couple minutes less to prevent drying out. Egg allergy? I’ve got you covered. Add 1/2 cup more pumpkin puree and 2 chia eggs(4 Tablespoons warm water mixed with 2 Tablespoons chia seeds, stir and let sit to thicken for ten minutes). Flax eggs work, too! I’ve yet to find an allergy mod I can’t do with these and still get a delicious muffin in the end.
Pumpkin Spice Muffins
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon clove
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup softened butter or oil of your choice
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups pureed pumpkin
- 2/3 cup water
- 1/4 cup turbinado sugar(optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375° F
- Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar and mix thoroughly.
- To the dry ingredients, add the butter/oil, eggs, pumpkin, and water. Combine thoroughly, scraping the bottom of the bowl to prevent any dry pockets from remaining.
- Spoon the batter into greased or lined muffin tins, and sprinkle the tops with turbinado sugar(optional). Bake for 18-22 minutes, until the center tops of the muffins are firm buy springy.
- *To make quick bread with this recipe, preheat the oven to 350° F, follow the directions for the batter the same, then split the batter evenly between two greased quick bread loaf pans. Bake for 45-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out moist but clean. *