Baked Sunday Mornings: Pumpkin Cheddar Muffins

LOOK AT THAT MELTED CHEESE--HOT OUT OF THE OVEN

JUST OUT OF THE OVEN

I LOVE good, moist muffins, in all their wonderful varieties, and I really LOVE pumpkin...especially during October and November.  I usually choose versions of both muffins and pumpkin that are on the sweet side and I love lots of good flavor.  Even though the Pumpkin Cheddar Muffins have brown sugar, it is not pronounced, making this variety a nice change for me...I immediately ate 4 right out of the oven, before they had a chance to cool even slightly.

THESE PUMPKIN CHEDDAR MUFFINS ARE GOOD ENOUGH FOR THANKSGIVING DINNER

HOT AND DELICIOUS WITH CHOCOLATE CHIPS AND TRADITIONAL PUMPKIN SPICES

Just to compare, and because I had made fresh pumpkin puree (and because I expect company to help eat them) which gave me about 4 cups of pumpkin for today’s baking, I decided to double the recipe and to also make a double batch of my usual pumpkin with chocolate chips muffins...LOVE pumpkin and chocolate together; it’s happiness.

There was nothing unusual about the pumpkin cheddar recipe except for a pretty before-baking garnish of grated cheese, which browned nicely and is an appealing touch.

I baked my muffins...and I got 18 per batch...for 18 minutes and they were perfect with nicely browned bottoms and a perfectly browned top.

MY USUAL VARIETY

Next time, I’ll use pepper jack cheese for a more spicy flavor; my taste buds in my brain tell me it would be really good in this recipe.

My Usual Moist Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
1 C Flour
2 t Baking Powder
2 t Cinnamon
½ t Nutmeg
½ t Ginger
½ t Salt

Sift above together.

In a mixer bowl, whisk together:
½ C sugar
1 C pumpkin
4 T Butter, room temperature
½ C Evaporated Milk
1 Egg
1 ½ t Vanilla

Remove bowl from mixer, add dry ingredients and fold together just until combined.

Makes 12 muffins.  Bake 400^ for 18-20 minutes in the middle of oven.  For no mess, use cupcake papers.

(For a different variety, use golden raisins instead of chocolate chips)

MY MUFFIN--COULDN'T WAIT FOR IT TO COOL, BUT LOVE THAT GOOEY MELTED CHOCOLATE

Hope you are all keeping warm!  Phoenix went from 110 a month ago to 60 today...I think I may need to go into hibernation...I'm not ready for this!  But it does actually really feel like November.

I had planned to add pumpkin seeds to the top of my Pumpkin Cheddar Muffin, however, someone cute ate them all...but these are good enough to bake again, so next time I'll add them.