Mini Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins

Four glorious days off. Thank you, Christopher Columbus! And, many thanks to the N.R. school department for their wisdom in giving the students the day off the Friday before No volleyball. No work. Just a little soccer. What to do, what to do with all this free time?

We had a “few” ideas…

This list makes me laugh. Ice cream x 2 tops the list. Cooking. Restaurant eating. Food-centric, maybe? Yeah. But plenty of active activities too! Clearly this list was more than we can accomplish, but we are doing alright. As of Monday morning, we can also check off the Patriots game, soccer tournament, scrapbooking, and a bike ride. My fave addition to the list is Georgia’s addition of “EVREBUDE NIT” – just so perfect. That’s “everybody night” for those of you without a 1st grader in the house

Yesterday I did my part towards checking off “cooking” by finally getting around to my first pumpkin recipe of the season. I have to thank Sally’s Baking Addiction for the inspiration. I am telling you, this gal is a prolific producer of some delicious looking baked goods.  She posts so many recipes every week, I’ve got to assume she is either supporting some very lucky local food pantry or secretly supporting a family of 16 (which is unlikely given her young age and trim physique, not to mention her obvious plethora of free time spent baking, photographing, and blogging her obsession!!) I have to confess I’ve spent more than a reasonable amount of time worrying where all those baked goods go…

Back to these muffins. Don’t they look amazing??

With muffins, usually I make 24 biggies. This made 24 minis. Needless to say, the 5 of us sat down and devoured them in just a few minutes. To be honest, I can’t be sure if anybody liked them. They weren’t talking, or if they were I couldn’t understand them with their cheeks stuffed with these sweet little babies. And it was impossible to read their expressions underneath the halo of cinnamon sugar.  Based on the satisfied groans and rubbing of bellies, though, I’d say they were a hit

FYI, for most of these muffins, I dipped the tops in melted butter and then in the cinnamon sugar mixture. However, when almost done, I realized the cinnamon sugar would stick to the muffins WITHOUT the help of melted butter. See?

Sure, butter tastes great. I’m a big fan. However, if you want to make them even healthier than they already are, just skip the melted butter part. Seriously good either way.

And,  yes, of course you can make these in a regular muffin pan instead! Just fill cups 2/3 way full, and bake for about 20-22 minutes. Butter optional. Cinnamon sugar is not

Mini Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins
Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction
Makes 24 mini muffins (or ~12 regular muffins)

Pumpkin Muffins
1 and 3/4 cup whole wheat flour (or all-purpose flour)
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup milk

2) Prepare mini muffin pan with spray oil. Spoon batter into each muffin cup until they are about 2/3 full. Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes. Muffins will be springy on top and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean.
3) Let the muffins sit for a few minutes while you prepare the coating. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in the microwave for 20-30 seconds (or skip this butter part). Combine the 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon in a separate bowl. Remove the muffins from the pan and dip the tops in butter, then roll the whole muffin around in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Easy!

Tagged as: cinnamon sugar coating, Columbus Day weekend, mini muffins, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin recipe, Sally's Baking Addiction