The Sobremesa 07.

let's talk about pumpkin donut muffins

The leaves are starting to turn, the sun is starting to go down early, and we’re starting to bust out those cute chunky sweaters. It’s October. Which means it’s also time to start eating some pumpkin shit.

Our food consumer habits are quite predictable - I know, because I’ve had to plan around them for years in the bakeries. And my friends, nothing is as predicable for us in the bakery biz than knowing that we need to make A LOT of pumpkin things come October 1st. It’s just a fact. Americans love Pumpkin-anything in the Fall! Just walk down the aisle of your grocery store and you’ll be shocked and awed. Pumpkin Oreos, pumpkin cream cheese, pumpkin yogurt, pumpkin peanut butter, even pumpkin…hummus. Savage.

What’s interesting is that none of this stuff actually tastes like real pumpkin. Have you ever had pumpkin by itself? Does it really taste like that PSL? What you’re actually tasting are the yummy spices that the pumpkin is cooked with (aka cinnamon and nutmeg).

Why are we so obsessed with pumpkin products? I suppose it’s our modern take on harvest season. Since most of us aren’t out there tilling the fields or whatever, we’re just going to indulge ourselves in American consumerism instead.

Alas, I’m not a complete psychopath, and I do love me some pumpkin shit as well. While I’m not buying pumpkin Oreos (I’ll take mine double stuffed, thank you very much!) I definitely get down with some homemade pumpkin baked goods. But I don’t force it. When I go to a bakery and see something like “vegan salted pumpkin spice cheesecake bars” I’m extremely turned off and weirdly paranoid. Why are you trying so hard? What are you trying to hide? Does your regular cheesecake suck so much you had to cover it up with pumpkin buzz words? Are you trying to turn us into all into basic white girl robots? WHO PUT YOU UP TO THIS!!! Ok, so maybe I am a bit of a psychopath.

Call me old-fashioned, but I stick to three variations of pumpkin baked goods: (1) Pumpkin Bread, (2) Pumpkin Pie, (3) Pumpkin Donut Muffins. When asking friends advice on this week’s Sobremesa, I asked if I should do a good old fashioned pumpkin loaf or…sex it up a bit. They all agreed to sex it up. And they were thrilled at the prospect of a pumpkin recipe!

So we’re going to make pumpkin donut muffins - the most extravagant pumpkin baked good I’ll make.

They are so good that they are an all-year around staple at Baked&Wired. I love them because the canned pumpkin makes them super soft and (*trigger warning*) moist (sorry, there’s just no better word) and the cinnamon and nutmeg make them perfectly spiced. Not to mention, they are the perfect size and you can eat them at any hour of the day. I’m a big fan of desserts you can eat for breakfast. What’s also cool is that they taste like a donut, but they are baked, not fried (dare I say, healthier?) and to boot, you don’t have to worry about the mess of making donuts (special pan, a lot of frying oil, etc.).

Make a batch of these bad boys and pass them out to your pumpkin-head friends. They’ll love ya. Enjoy it while you can, because also predictably, nobody wants this stuff come December 1st (except apparently my friend Rachel, who I was texting above). Move over Pumpkin, but then we have to start putting peppermint in everything!

Pumpkin Donut Muffins

Makes 15

If you’re using a 12-muffin pan, you’ll have some leftover batter. Either use a 2nd muffin pan, or do what I do (since I only have one pan) and just wait for the 1 batch to come out, cool, and then bake off the rest.

Ingredients

3 ⅓ cups flour (I do 50% wholewheat and 50% all-purpose, because I like the nutty flavor of the wholewheat)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

2 cups sugar

1 cup canola oil

4 eggs

2/3 cups water

15 oz. canned pumpkin (I’m a hardcore Libby brand fangirl myself)

For the cinnamon sugar coating:

1 stick butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Ok, let’s goooo!

Set your oven to 325 F.

Grease your muffin pan with either non-stick spray or some butter.

Whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg).

Beat the sugar and oil together on medium speed until well combined.

Add eggs one at a time, beating well, and scrape down the bowl after each egg.

Add the dry mixture and water alternately to the sugar mixture until just combined, beating on low and scraping the bowl in-between.

Beat in the canned pumpkin.

Fill the muffin tin with the batter to right below to brim. I myself only have a 12-muffin tin, and this recipe is for 15 muffins. So you’ll have some batter leftover. If you have the luxury of owning 2 muffin pans, go ahead and bake them off! Otherwise do what I did, which is wait until the first batch is finished and then baked off 3 more muffins : )

Bake for 25-30 mins. You’ll know they are finished when they are golden around the edges and if you stick a toothpick in the middle, it will come out with no wet batter, maybe some dry crumbs.

Cool completely. I mean it! Should take about 1 hour.

Melt 1 stick of butter and keep in a bowl.

Mix 1 cup sugar and 1⁄2 teaspoon of cinnamon together in a separate bowl.

Use a pastry brush (I just use a paintbrush I got from the hardware store) and work with one muffin at a time. Brush the butter all over, even the bottom, then toss to coat with cinnamon sugar.

And there you have it. Fall has officially arrived!

If you store these in an airtight container, they will last for at least 4 days. The sugar will absorb back into muffin the longer it’s in the container, but you can just toss it with some more sugar mixture if you want to bring it back to life.

Now go on and pick some apples or something : )

Happy Fall, my friends.

Love ya mucho,

Tessa