Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

Okay, I know.....its spring.....why am I making anything with pumpkin in it?? Because I can! How's that for an answer?? Oh....you want a real answer.....my mother. She loves pumpkin food as much as I do and she could not decided between having banana bread or pumpkin muffins for breakfast. So I told her I would do both. I had some pumpkin frozen. I had bought several sugar pumpkins this past fall and used them in decorating the house as well as for Halloween. Nothing is better for children to decorate than sugar pumpkins!

Awww.....aren't they cute? And yes I did some of them and no I cannot unfortunately blame them on Alex as he was deployed during the holidays. But see those little cute ones up front?? Those are sugar pumpkins. Those are the best pumpkins to work with. They are sweet and delicious. The bigger they are the less sweet and tasty they become. And stringy too. Who wants to eat a stringy pumpkin?? Not me! So the ease of roasting a sugar pumpkin should be your biggest selling point to doing it yourself. Cut in half, roast in the oven at 300 for one hour or until soft. Peel skin and puree the flesh. See!! Easy!! And people think I am superwoman when I pull out homemade sugar pumpkin puree. All it takes is some patience and thinking ahead.

So back to these muffins. I made this last October and my mother loved them and for me there is no season on eating pumpkin. I eat it year round!! Sometimes when you like something you do not set yourself up to only eat it once a year. You allowe yourself some in between! And this was one of those times. So heres your recipe:

2c sugar pumpkin puree
3c all purpose flour
2c sugar
2t baking soda
1/2t baking powder
3t ground cinnamon (my secret is Ceylon cinnamon)
2t ground nutmeg
1t ground allspice
1t salt
2/3c vegetable oil
3 eggs, beaten
1/2-1c dried cranberries
1/2-1c rough chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350.

Beat pumpkin, vegetable oil, and eggs in a medium bowl with a mixer. In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients. Stir the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients. Add your fruit and nuts at this time too. Spoon into muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes.



These turn out nicely brown and moist and delicious! I like adding the nuts because it gives you a nice crunchy texture you otherwise would not have. They bring me right back to fall and all the smells and tastes you do not get in Las Vegas. There is no fall in Vegas. And I know people from Florida say the same thing, but trust me....theres a season there. It does get cool and you do get color changes in the leaves and they do fall. Out here it is at least 100 until the end of September and it goes straight to colder instead of cool like most places. So eating soups and pumpkin make me feel like there is a fall season. So if you are in a city like me with no seasons but hot.....have yourself a nice pumpkin muffin and use your imagination!!