Un-Pumpkin Muffins

I love Fall because it has my favorite holidays.  Who doesn't love Halloween where you get to dress up as anything you want and it's ok.  Even if you're 25 and should be acting like an adult.  It doesn't matter.  And then there's Thanksgiving!  Oh how I love Thanksgiving!  The family gets together, we reflect on the year and what we are thankful for, and we laugh and joke and eat.  It's really my favorite holiday because it's so family oriented and there are no expectations except to enjoy each others' company.

And then there's the pie.  I really don't know which type I like more:  apple or pumpkin.  The apple is sweet with a crunchy crust and gooey center.  The pumpkin is more savory and creamy, and with a dallop of whipped cream, it really can't get any better.  And they are both equally delicious for breakfast the next morning.  So I had to come up with a tie-breaker:  muffins.

I love muffins, and I love pie, so it seemed only obvious to create muffins that taste like the pie!  I have made apple muffins (which are LOADED with fiber, so if you aren't well stocked with toilet paper, you should not eat them!) and it was on to making pumpkin muffins.

I found a great recipe in my Betty Crocker cookbook, because Betty knows it all!

Unfortunately, she doesn't know how to make very good pumpkin muffins.

Don't get me wrong, the muffins are delicious.  They are nice and moist, good crumb texture, and they are slightly sweet.  They have great flavor, but they don't taste like pumpkin.  At all. And they were not spicy enough for my liking.  Part of the appeal of pumpkin pie is how well the spices play off each other.   And there wasn't much pumpkin.  Or spice.  Back to the drawing board.

So it's my turn to turn up the flavor a bit, Betty.  I just hope that when I'm done, she's not rolling around in her grave.  That would be undesirable to say the least.  This weekend, I will be whipping up a batch of Pumpkin Muffins 2.0.