#PumpkinWeek - Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins

Hi and welcome to day 6 and the end of #PumpkinWeek hosted by Terri from Love and Confections. We are celebrating our love of the season with a whole week of pumpkin goodies, leading up to National Pumpkin Day, which is tomorrow! 17 Food Bloggers have come together to share over 65 recipes with you. In addition to homemade pumpkin puree, pie, and cookies, we are also sharing savory pumpkin dishes like hummus, chili and pumpkin corn chowder. Check back over the past week of posts for all of the #PumpkinWeek recipes. You can also find these great recipes and more on Love and Confections' #PumpkinWeek Pinterest Board!

This post is a first for me - because I am typing it from Starbucks! Why? - not just because they make super yummy peppermint mochas and pumpkin bread (yes, I am eating pumpkin bread at Starbucks despite the past couple weeks of pumpkin baked goods that have been gracing my home!) I am here because I have no internet at home. Why do I have no internet at home? Because we are now the proud owner (GULP) of TWO homes and after closing on Friday morning we took a car and truck load of boxes to the new house and that included our big TV and most of the living room electronics to get internet / cable set up there. That included the wi-fi router. I wasn't thinking about that fact when I was planning to come home after our day of unpacking to our other house and get this post ready to go live for Saturday am! Oops.

Oh well - after our day it was kind of a nice excuse to get out of the house by myself, have some quiet time at Starbucks, and sip a nice cup of coffee while I worked on finishing this post! Thank you for joining us all for the past week of pumpkin goodies! I am sad the week is already over - I have LOVED the "excuse" to fill my kitchen with the scents of pumpkin goodies - from slow cooker butter to scones and cookies. They are all winners in my book and I am so glad I got to try them all out and add some new recipes to my fall baking repertoire!

Enjoy this final, delicious pumpkin recipe for the week - these are super tasty little bites. We all really enjoyed these for a breakfast treat and snack. My 13 month old liked these a lot - I saved some without the cinnamon sugar topping for her. And then my husband gave her two with the sugar topping. Sigh.

These are perfect bite sized treats, tender, flavorful, sweet, and lightly spiced. Like most of the pumpkin muffins I make, these were a little on the dense side in that they didn't rise much during baking and most had somewhat misshapen tops - not the perfectly rounded domes you often get on lighter batters. The batter was fairly thick, and I wondered if I'd thinned it some if they would have been a little on the lighter side. I may try that next time and see if it makes a difference. Regardless of their appearance, their taste and texture were very nice and I look forward to enjoying these again!

Check out all the #PumpkinWeek Bloggers and their recipes from today:
Pumpkin Pie Dip by Love and Confections
Pumpkin Pye - that's Pie with a Rye Crust by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Caramel Pumpkin Torte by Lady Behind The Curtain
Pumpkin Loaf by The Not So Cheesy Kitchen
Pumpkin Pie Martini by A Day in the Life on the Farm
Pumpkin Cheesecake Swirl Brownies by A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins by Making Miracles
 
Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins from Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients

Mini Muffins
1 and 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 cup milk

Cinnamon Sugar Coating
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup white sugar
2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a mini muffin baking tray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice (I used Cinnamon Plus), and nutmeg. Whisk to combine.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the melted butter, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin puree, and milk, Blend well until smooth and combined.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet, stirring slowly and only mixing just until ingredients are combined.
5. Spoon batter into prepared mini muffin pan, filling each well about 3/4 of the way full.
6. Bake for 11 - 12 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
7. Set muffins on a cooling rack to cool for about 10 - 15 minutes and prepare the cinnamon sugar topping by combining the 1/2 cup sugar with 2 TBS cinnamon in a pie plate or shallow bowl. When muffins have mostly cooled, but are still warm melt the 1/4 cup butter in another bowl. Dip the tops of the muffins in the melted butter and then roll gently in the cinnamon sugar.
8. Only add the topping to the muffins you intend to eat that day, otherwise they can get soggy when stored.