Many of you e-mailed to say how much you enjoyed Michelle's pumpkin bread with caramel glaze and indicated you'd be interested in more pumpkin and harvest recipes. So here we go with another friend's fabulous pumpkin muffin discovery. And, you may be surprised to learn this friend's name is Suzanne, not Michelle!
Suzanne Tustin told me she always enjoyed going on the annual field trip to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm in Wheatland with her daughters' classes when they were little.
She always purchased a couple dozen muffins from the Bishop's bakery, but the family gobbled them up in no time, always leaving them craving more. But, Wheatland is a long way to go for baked goods, especially when you live in Colfax.
Luckily, on one trip Suzanne discovered the Bishop Pumpkin Farm Cookbook and sure enough, it had the recipe for the Tustin family's favorite pumpkin-apple muffins with streusel topping. They are wonderfully moist and the topping gives them a special-occasion touch. We changed the streusel topping slightly from the original to incorporate brown sugar as well as white.
Give these a try and next week, we'll feature Denise Monahan's pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting before heading into Thanksgiving fare.
For Bishop's Pumpkin Farm, see www.webpumpkins.com/
Pumpkin-Apple Muffins
(Makes 18 regular muffins or 12 large muffins)
2 ½ cups flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup pumpkin (we used canned)
½ cup vegetable oil
2 cups finely chopped apples (we've used Fuji, Pippin and Cameo, but really any apple will work)
Mix the first five ingredients in a large bowl. In a different, smaller bowl, combine pumpkin, eggs and oil and mix well. Add to dries and stir until integrated. Stir in chopped apples. (The original recipe doesn't specify whether to peel apples, or not, but we did.) Spoon batter into paper lined or well-greased muffin tins. Sprinkle with streusel topping and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
Streusel Topping
¼ cup flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon (here you can add whatever spices you like i.e. nutmeg, cardamom or others)
4 -5 tablespoons butter or margarine
Combine all dries and cut butter into mixture until crumbly.
Susie Iventosch can be reached at suziven@hughes.net.
