Now that it’s October, I have been easing in to the pumpkin baking season. But I was flabbergasted by a recent Bon Appetit headline recently. It said we’re now in “baking season.” Not just pumpkin baking season. Baking season. And it occurred to me… are there people out there who only bake during Oct-Dec? Exclusively for holidays? What sort of existence is that? Baking season is every season???
Sometimes I really do wonder how other people live their lives. Like, we can never know. Other people don’t bake all year round? What do they do? Do they like dessert? Or do they not even like dessert? Have they ever made a muffin? How many of my fellow Americans have never made a muffin?!? When I walk through the park and nod at my neighbors in passing… am I encountering a whole legion non-bakers? Do I even fundamentally understand the humans around me?
Really makes you think.
Aaaanyways… I bake muffins a lot. And I bake with pumpkin a lot. But these were really good pumpkin muffins. Truly a strong pumpkin flavor to them, which you don’t always get. My pet peeve this time of year is how a lot of things are marketed as “pumpkin spice,” which doesn’t even mean there’s pumpkin involved. It’s just spice. I am not about that. I am about the PUMPKIN. And these muffins are PUMPKIN.
The butterscotch chips melt into the batter and give the muffins lovely little pockets of sweet-ness. The brown butter glaze certainly doesn’t hurt. These are a top notch bake.
The baking chip aisle has had some recent developments – there’s now salted caramel chips, buttercream flavored chips, and a whole array of various colored chip mixes and sprinkles. It’s proliferating. How do we have that proliferation if some people are just only baking for the last quarter of the year??? It boggles the mind.
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PinDescription
Makes 6 muffins. Easily doubled for a dozen.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cups + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
- 3/4 cups canned pumpkin puree
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1/2 cup butterscotch chips
For the glaze:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, browned
- 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 to 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Line 6 holes of a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt together until combined. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, eggs, and milk together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and then whisk everything together just until combined and no flour pockets remain. Fold in the butterscotch chips, if using.
- Spoon the batter into liners, filling them all the way to the top.
- Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F, then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Bake for an additional 16–17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 21–22 minutes, give or take. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan before removing.
- To make the glaze: Brown the butter, then combine all the ingredients, adding enough milk to make a spreadable glaze. Glaze muffins while still warm, and serve.
- Cover tightly and store at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction