Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins

Well, it's mid-October and pumpkin season is in full-swing. Good thing, too, because I haven't forgotten my previous commitment to go "pumpkin craaaaaazy"!! But we'll get to that in a minute.

Around here, pumpkin patches are appearing on street corners faster than you can say "Why am I paying so much for pumpkins?" I do enjoy our annual visit to the pumpkin patch, though. This year, our family (plus my dad and step-mom in town from Illinois) headed out to the far East Valley to check out the festivities at Vertuccio Farms. For $8 admission, you can't do better than this place. Their fall festival boasts games, a bounce house, pedal race cars, farm animals for petting, a barrel train ride, 

This is what I mean by "barrel train." It's made out of barrels.

and a 2-mile corn maze complete with a mystery modeled after the game Clue (in this case, it was which animal kidnapped Farmer Joe--I think it ended up being the chickens with the rat poison in the outhouse...or something similarly macabre. The instructions stated that "fowl play" was involved). The kids had a blast and we were all pretty wiped out by the end of the afternoon, so we finished our visit the way any sensible person would on a Phoenix-area fall day: with sno-cones. 

Elliot had cherry. Gabe had cotton candy flavor.

At any rate, here's another recipe involving everyone's favorite orange vegetable. I wish I could say I made these muffins with pumpkin puree from a pumpkin patch pumpkin (try saying that three times fast), but no, they were created with the humble canned variety. But you know, they still turned out great! Very moist and pumpkin-y with the hardy texture of oats, these were super satisfying for a fall morning when you've been bitten by the pumpkin bug.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins

(Adapted from Peanut Butter Fingers)

Ingredients:

3/4 c. whole wheat flour

3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (mix cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves)

1 c. old-fashioned oats

1/3 c. brown sugar

1/3 c. white sugar

1 egg

1 c. pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin

3/4 c. milk

1/3 c. canola oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper liners.

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, oats, brown sugar, and white sugar. 

In a separate bowl, mix egg, pumpkin, milk, and oil. Pour pumpkin mixture into flour mixture and mix well to incorporate.

Fill muffin cups and bake for 18-20 minutes or until muffin tops spring back when touched.

Makes 12 muffins.