Extra Spice, Less Squash

After we made our pupcakes we had some pumpkin left. It seemed sad to waste such a hard sought after ingredient - it's Fall after all, and canned pumpkin is scarce. Sure I could ask my mom for some of her homemade pumpkin stock, but she uses it plenty and we were OK with the canned stuff. Anyway, I was looking for a recipe that didn't require a full can because well, we had about a cup left. This recipe fit the bill perfect and the muffins are great. They have the right amount of spice and aren't overly squashy in flavor. Let's be honest, people love pumpkin spice for the spice, not the pumpkin. The kids put these together on a Saturday morning and we dug in. I did not dip them in butter, I sprayed them with vegetable spray and dipped in cinnamon sugar, it worked just as well.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree

Cinnamon Sugar Topping
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup unsalted butter (melted)

Preheat the oven to 375F degrees. Line a muffin pan with muffin papers.
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl whisk together the oil, sugars, eggs, vanilla extract and pumpkin puree.
Mix the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture until no lumps remain.
Spoon the batter into the lined muffin pan. You should end up with 12 muffins.
Bake in the preheated oven for 17-22 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes.

Cinnamon Sugar Topping
In a small bowl mix together the sugar and cinnamon.
Dip the top of each muffin (while still warm) into the melted butter and shake off any excess.
Then dip in the bowl of cinnamon sugar.