Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Tuesdays with Dorie—Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin MuffinsThese Pumpkin Muffins have lots of ingredients to please all sorts of taste buds: the crunch of the pecans and sunflower seeds, the soft chew of the raisins, and the spice from the cinnamon/ginger/nutmeg/allspice blend. Although the ingredient list is long, it only requires two bowls: one for the dry ingredients and the other for all the rest, and it goes together fast. These muffins are inspired by the famous pumpkin muffins at Sarabeth's Kitchen in New York.
Dorie on pumpkin: "If this vegetable were getting its kindergarten report, it would get an A for 'playing well with others.' I confess that my pumpkin doesn't come from the patch, but right off the supermarket shelves. I always used canned purée (not pie filling, which is already spiced) and always have a couple of cans in the cupboard because a craving can strike long after—or long before—the proverbial frost is on the pumpkin." 
Have you ever taken something you shouldn't? A cookie from the grocery store that are set out to keep the kids quiet long enough to do your grocery shopping in record speed? An extra sample from the Costco ladies saying it's for your child knowing full well they won't like it? A magazine from your Doctor's office? Confession time: For this Pumpkin Muffin recipe, I used the mini ketchup containers from McDonald's! I didn't take very many, but enough to make some one-bite muffins. You could play around and use cookie cutters to bake them in as I did for my Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins. Also, I had extra pumpkin pie filling from my Pumpkin Chai Tart so I used that instead of the unsweetened pumpkin purée suggested in the recipe. Doing this added a touch of chai and coconut to the mix, which was nice. Recipe Ingredients for Pumpkin MuffinsYou can find the recipe for Pumpkin Muffins in the book Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan or here. To see how the rest of the TWD group fared with this week's recipe, click here and then click on each blogger! Thanks to Kelly from Sounding My Barbaric Gulp who chose the recipe for this week. Tasting Notes I loved these pumpkin muffins. They were best fresh from the oven, but I've been enjoying several since then too. Recipe for Next Week (October 28) Chocolate-Chocolate Cupcakes on pages 215-217 chosen by Clara from I Heart Food4Thought. Gift Giveaway Winner Thanks to everyone for leaving a comment on last week's TWD post! I used Random.org and the first number in the sequence that it generated was 54. So, #54 was Annette from Bun in the Oven. Annette, thanks for dropping by! I'll be in touch about the 1-year subscription to Bon Appétit magazine. Congratulations!




46 comments:

Audrey said...

extra packets (just one at a time) of sugar in the raw from Starbucks, and those thick blue paper towels from the car wash...

Jules Someone said...

Cute little muffins!

natalia said...

I bet it was good I am still waiting to make the chai pumpkin pies !

Anonymous said...

Adorable minis. Nice work.

Anonymous said...

bite-sized muffins, that's brilliant! i see a sneaky visit to mcdonalds in my future. :) i "get" my straws from starbucks. chai flavors would be magnificent with pumpkin muffins, i love this idea.

chocolatechic said...

I have taken things, but I'm not saying what.

Your muffins are so cute in the ketchup cups.

Anonymous said...

I think McDonald's is going to be needing to increase their order for ketchup cups when everyone reads this post and sees those darling little one bit (no guilt) muffins of yours. How do you come up with all these things? It is a full time job just being you on a daily basis...LOL. Great post, great ideas, great knowing YOU!

Cathy said...

I knew that your muffin cups looked familiar, but I couldn't quite place them until you revealed the source. McDonald's ketchup cups! Pure genius! Don't worry, I'm pretty sure that McDonald's made a profit on your visit despite the fact that they lost a few extra ketchup cups. I sometimes take a few extra packets of crackers that come with my soup. In case my kids need quieting down in the car. Your muffins look beautiful -- I love the mini minis!

Anonymous said...

The ketchup cups are brilliant!!

Pamela said...

I haven't been to McDonald's in a LONG time. Guess I need to go check it out, huh? Really cute.

Laura said...

Adorable mini muffins! I think I'd have trouble with portion control - I know that I'd eat 7 or 8 of those little babies before I knew what happened!

Beryl said...

hey, kleptomania is the mother of invention, or something like that. in these hard economic times, whats a few ketchup containers among friends!

kimberly salem said...

ha!! those are adorable. i love how creative you always are with wrappers and shapes. the chai/coconut flavors sound great!!

Anonymous said...

How funny re: the ketchup containers! When I first saw your picture, I thought to myslef I wonder where I can buy some. Well now I know.... :P

They look great!

~Kimberly said...

Great job! Love the top photo! So creative!

Peggy said...

I can't believe you used Mac's ketchup cups! :) Too too cute. And if I have taken anything, I'm not confessing here, not even to just you!

The Food Librarian said...

So crazy cute! I always thought those plastic salsa containers at El Pollo Loco were too cute. I borrow lots of individually covered straws. I think drinking water from a straw improves the flavor...I know, I'm crazy!

Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

Those are the cutest little muffins ever! :) I love the idea of doing them in the tiny containers!

Carol Peterman/TableFare said...

It's advertising; they want you to take them! With that mention alone, how many of us will have a surprise craving for McDonald's french fries before the week is out?

Anonymous said...

Looks like a great rendition! Love the Chai addition.

Y said...

I love bite sized muffins.. too cute :)

Clumbsy Cookie said...

I just love you bake everything in unusual things! This are soooooooo cute! I would make earings out of them!

CB said...

So funny about "stealing" MickeyD ketchup cups. Don't worry. My lips are zipped. Love your mini muffins. Great job!
Clara @ iheartfood4thought

Veronica said...

Oh how insanely clever to bake the muffins in those mini cups (even if they were pilfered!

Susie Homemaker said...

you just wait! the next time i see Ronald I am gonna tell, and he'll lock you up with the HamBurglar!
clever, clever...you are too claver for your own good.

AmyRuth said...

Shari, your little nut cups (as well call them down here) aka ketchup cups really look so cute atop the melon. How creative are you? Awesome photos all around your blog. So pretty. I like your new page BTW. I thought these muffins were alright but I like more pumpkin.

Wilton makes varied sizes of nut cups in case your inspired and still want to eat at McDonalds. aaaaaahhh
AmyRuth

Anonymous said...

I kinda love your ingredients pic. Mine never turn out nearly that well!

Engineer Baker said...

Finally, something McDonald's is good for! I might have to venture in there for the first time in years just to snatch some of those mini cups...

Annette said...

Woohoo! Thank yo Shari. That's my favorite food magazine. Your bite-size muffins are too cute!

Katie Barlow said...

Cute!!

Anonymous said...

Haha, what a cute idea!! I would never have thought to bake in those little paper cups - I'll have to grab some sometime and try it out! :)

NKP said...

I love your minis! So cute. We really enjoyed the muffins too, great flavour.

LyB said...

I'm going to have to start rethinking what I use to bake my muffins and cakes in! This is so creative!

Unknown said...

What a wonderful idea using the ketchup containers :o) These look yummy.

And I often help myself to a handful of splenda tablets when at burger king so I always have sweetner for my coffee in my handbag for when I am out and about. That's all I'm admitting to lol

Anonymous said...

i really like the ketchup container idea! i recently stole some large paper cups from the dining hall (intended for ice cream) and made some monster cupcakes :)

Jenny said...

Okay, I have a very important question - where did you get your muffin cups? I was getting those from Michael's but it seems Wilton has changed theirs and now they are plastic or wax coated and I can't use them for baking anymore!
Sorry I missed the contest - bloglines has been holding onto updates lately and then showing them 10-25 at a time. Yours popped up today with 10, but I don't think you did 10 updates in one afternoon. :-)

Amber said...

I love the ketchup cups and the photo on the melon. It is like looking onto the world from space. I just bought Dories book for $9.99 at Ross so I plan to join this week.

Heather B said...

Great job! I love the minis in the ketchup cups!

Passionate Baker said...

wowww. ur muffins look scrumptious!
i love how u made them mini!
so cute!!
<3

Prudy said...

Those are just too cute and so teeny!

Liz said...

A Vogue from the hairdressers just once...and just for the Jeffrey Steingarten article on bread!

Love the mini one-bite cupcakes--so adorable!

Marthe said...

awwwwwwww, too cute!! And tasty as well!

Sandy Smith said...

These are so adorable, and perfect for snacking! I really love your modifications - very creative!! I think you can actually buy the little paper cups at Sam's Club, and also at Michael's (if not in the cake-decorating aisle, then in the wedding favors aisle), but you'd have to plan on making several thousand mini-muffins to make it worthwhile. :)
Visiting your blog is always a treat!

Shari said...

audrey - I love hearing what others have taken. ;)

jules someone - Thanks!

natalia - They are good!

rainbowbrown - Thanks!

lori - 1-bite means you don't feel as much guilt!

chocolatechic - Thanks!

kayte - No guilt, but easier to eat more than 1 or 2 or...

cathy - It's fun to hear what we've all been "taking". :)

eb - Thanks!

pamela - We don't go often, but now and then, and now I have a reason to go.

laura - That's so true.

beryl - I like your thinking!

kim - Chai, coconut, pumpkin are delicious together.

pinkstripes - Dairy Queen also has them!

~kimberly - Thanks!

peggy - Aw, just between the two of us!! ;)

the food librarian - I can't drink diet pepsis without a straw! And if I buy a latte, I have to get a straw too. I don't like drinking coffee through the plastic lid.

carol peterman - I hope you're right!

candy - Hope you try it too!

y - Thanks!

clumbsy cookie - Earrings sound very creative!

cb - :)

veronica - Pilfered tastes better?!

susie homemaker - Not the HamBurglar!

amyruth - Nut cups -- I like that. I'll have to check out Wilton at Michael's next time I'm there.

jenny - Thanks!

engineer baker - You're so right. I have eaten one too many burgers there and try to avoid the place.

annette - Send me your address. :)

katie barlow - Thanks!

carmen - I bet other burger joints have them too.

natashya - They were delicious!

lyb - Thanks!

julesb - I like the raw sugar packets too!

mysweetestday - Monster cupcakes in large paper cups -- great idea!

jenny - McDonald's. Or Dairy Queen. Thanks for the tip about Michael's and their plastic/wax-coated versions. Not good.

amber - Her book is wonderful.

heather b - Thanks!

passionate baker - Minis are so much fun.

prudy - Thanks!

liz - Pilfering for food reasons. Glad to know I'm not the only one.

marthe - Thanks!

sandy smith - I'll have to check Michael's next time I go. Thanks!

~Shari

Gretchen Noelle said...

Shari - I have a confession. I picked up some little ketchup containers last night as a result of your post. Ha! Lovely idea!!!

Shari said...

gretchen - I won't tell!! ;)