QUING Parties at the Palace with PUNKIN MUFFKINS

At our house, Thanksgiving is spelled P-U-M-P-K-I-N- P-I-E.

I bake four pumpkin pies every year: two for family and company, one for husband, and one for our Friday morning breakfast. This fall, I fiddled around with favorite muffin recipes, trying to create a muffin that  tastes like pumpkin pie, and is super simple to make for Thanksgiving breakfast. My kid-critics adore these muffins, with or without the streusel topping. I usually bake half a batch with the streusel topping, and half without. For a true pumpkin-pie-at-breakfast-experience, serve these muffkins like scones, with a dollop of whipped cream. This year, we might just eat Punkin Muffkins for breakfast on Friday morning, and give that fourth pie to husband- to consume while we go shopping. GUSTARE!

PUNKIN MUFFKINS

MUFFIN BATTER

·         2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

·         1 teaspoon kosher salt

·         2 teaspoons baking powder

·         1/2 teaspoon baking soda

·         1 teaspoon cinnamon

·         1/4 teaspoon ginger

·         1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

·         12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

·         1 1/2 cups sugar

·         3 large (or XL) eggs, at room temperature

·         1 cup canned pumpkin (Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin or the like)

·         1/4 cup milk ( Whole or 2% )

STREUSEL TOPPING

·         1/3 cup lightly packed light brown sugar

·         1/3 cup granulated sugar

·         2 teaspooons ground cinnamon

·         1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled

·         Optional: 1 cup pecans or walnuts. Pre-bake at 350 degrees for eight minutes, cool and chop.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 16 muffin pans with paper liners.

Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Set aside.  Prepare the streusel: mix sugars, cinnamon, and melted butter together into coarse mixture; stir in nuts and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3- 5 minutes (I use a Kitchenaid mixer with the paddle attachment.) With the mixer on low, add the eggs-one at a time. Add pumpkin and milk, and mix until incorporated.  Add the flour mixture to the batter and beat until just mixed.

Fill muffin pan cups almost to the top with batter.  Sprinkle each muffin with 1-2 tablespoons of streusel topping, if desired. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until muffins are lightly browned and a cake tester comes out clean.

NOTE: If you have muffin cups that will remain empty when baking, be sure to fill them with a little bit of water before placing in the oven. Or, you can make 18 smaller muffins, and shorten the baking time a couple of minutes.

To make Whipped Cream: In a chilled bowl, combine 8 ounces of heavy cream (one small carton) with 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and a splash of vanilla. Whip till creamy.