Celebrate autumn with James Tanner's pumpkin muffins, which can be eaten savoury or sweet, with his maple cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
- 250 g8¾ oz plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp all spice
- Pinch of salt
- 160 g5¾ oz soft brown sugar
- 60 ml2 fl oz milk/buttermilk
- pumpkin pureé made from leftover scoops of pumpkin flesh (see below for method)
- 2 eggs
- 30 g1 oz apple sauce
- 120 g4¼ oz melted butter
- Few drops of vanilla extract
- Pumpkin seeds, for garnish
For the maple cream cheese frosting:
- 100 g3½ oz icing sugar
- 100 g3½ oz cream cheese
- 45 g1½ oz butter
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
Method: How to make Spiced pumpkin muffins
Preheat the oven to 200C / gas mark 6.
To make the pumpkin pureé, scrape out the flesh of a medium pumpkin. Cut the flesh into small cubes or pieces and simmer with a splash of water in a hot pan until soft. This should take around 15-20 minutes. Drain, then blitz the pumpkin to a pureé. Weigh out 200g for the muffin mix. You can either freeze any leftover to make these muffins again another time or use it in soups.
Sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger and all spice into a bowl, add salt and sugar and set aside. In another bowl whisk together the milk or buttermilk, pumpkin pureé, eggs, apple sauce, melted butter and vanilla extract. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet to create a smooth batter.
Fill up your muffin tin or cases and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until just cooked. To check the muffins are cooked through insert a cocktail stick into the centre - if it comes out clean when removed the muffins are cooked.
Leave to cool on a wire baking rack. Then serve plain for a savoury muffin or if you want to make them sweet, ice with frosting and more cracked pumpkin seeds if desired.
For the maple syrup cream cheese frosting:
Blend all of the ingredients together and spoon over the cooked muffins once they have cooled.
