Pumpkin Corn Muffins - Is It Fall Yet?

Here in the Valley of the Sun....it sure doesn't feel like Fall, but with images of pumpkins and cool weather being shared and Starbucks adding PSL to their menu, I wanted to bake something Fall-like for my family to enjoy.

My little one's Highlights High Five magazine arrived this week and while reading it with him that night, we found a recipe for Pumpkin Corn Muffins - perfect timing.  I planned to crack open my cookbooks that night to see what I could bake based on what I had in my pantry. Fortunately, the recipe in the magazine only required a quick trip to the store after getting the boys to bed for a can of unsweetened pumpkin puree - I kind of figured I would need to buy at least that.

The cool part about this recipe is that since it was featured in this month's Highlights High Five, it's geared towards making it with your kids.  This time I did not - but it would be great to have them participate next time!

I popped them in the microwave for just a few seconds to warm them up the next morning - my boys loved them! These were very easy and started to get us in the mood for Fall.  What are you baking this season?

Pumpkin Corn Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
Recipe courtesy of  the October 2014 edition of Highlights High Five magazine

1 cup flour
3/4 cup stone-ground cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and put 12 paper baking cups into a muffin tin.

Put the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, spice, and salt into a large bowl.  Stir to mix.

In a small bowl, beat the eggs, then add the pumpkin, sugar, and oil.  Mix well.

Make a space in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the egg mixture.  Stir just until blended. Pour the batter into the baking cups.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Chocolate Blueberry Muffins - Kids in the Kitchen!

When I was asked to share a recipe for San Tan Valley Parenting that would promote families to get in the kitchen together, my mind filled with ideas!  I asked my boys if they would be willing to help me each time to test out the recipe and to, of course, taste test the results.  My older son was actually pretty excited about this – he started thinking about all kinds of fun and delicious treats we could make together.

We decided to run with his first idea of chocolate-blueberry muffins.  Once he started explaining this to me, I was a little concerned because I thought he was expected a blueberry muffin covered in chocolate.  Not so – this guy wanted the healthiness of blueberries packed into a chocolate muffin.  Great idea! 

I, like many of you I’m sure, wanted to make this easy on myself – but still be able to let the little ones get involved.  Instead of trying to come up with a chocolate muffin recipe, I purchased……what all good moms would……a box of chocolate cake mix. Muffins are just cupcakes without the frosting, right?  That’s what I decided.  Any chocolate cake mix will do, my boys and I chose Betty Crocker’s Super Moist Milk Chocolate cake.

The recipe is below and gives suggestions on where the kiddos can help.  Get your family in the kitchen this summer and let them eat chocolate cake chocolate muffins, for breakfast!  What else you are making in the kitchen with your kids?

Chocolate-Blueberry Muffins

Makes about 2 dozen muffins

6 oz. of fresh blueberries, washed and dried
Baking spray (I use Pillsbury’s Baking Spray with Flour)
Plus ingredients listed on back of cake mix (typically water, eggs, vegetable oil)

One 15.25 oz. chocolate cake mix

Combine the cake mix along with the required ingredients in a large bowl.  The kids can help by pouring everything in.  Depending on the age, throw in some math and have them use a measuring cup to determine the correct amounts.  They can also use the mixer to blend and make the batter.  My older son typically loses interest while doing this so I almost always end up finishing the process.  I am secretly OK with this because I always fear that he is going to remove the mixer from the bowl while it is still running.

Spray a regular sized muffin tin with the baking spray and fill about each muffin cavity about 2/3 of the way full.  The kids can then plop a few blueberries into each spot once you have added the batter.  It goes pretty fast with helping hands!

Follow the directions on the cake mix box for the baking temperature and time.  Once a toothpick comes out clean, they are done!  Let cool slightly and remove each muffin from the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.