Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Muffins

Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Muffins

Whenever I find a recipe for a 3 (WW) P+ muffin, I have to try it, I’m always trying to expand my breakfast repertoire. So this was next on the list.

My first obstacle, however, was that they’re made with my favorite flour, whole wheat pastry flour, and now TWO of my grocery stores are completely out of it. Was there a run on whole wheat pastry flour during the storm? I don’t get it. Our closest store has arrowroot flour, buckwheat flour, rye flour, almond flour, oat flour, garbanzo bean flour, corn flour, fava bean flour, but no whole wheat pastry! Very frustrating. Well I did some online research and discovered that graham flour is pretty close, so I bought that and used it.

graham flour

To that I added flax seed, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice, about half to three quarters of a teaspoon more than the recipe called for. I like spice.

spices and flour

I whisked it all together, and set it aside.

In a separate bowl, I mixed together the pumpkin and the turbinado sugar. It seemed like an odd sugar to use in a recipe, as I tend to use turbinado more for coating or dipping, but that’s what the recipe said so that’s what I did. It blended nicely.

pumpkin and sugar

Then Juliet came along to help, which was fun. She hasn’t baked with me since before the storm. She likes to admire the egg before cracking it.

Juliet with egg

Juliet with egg

She cracked two of them with my close supervision, and then mixed.

Juliet stirring

I added vanilla and stirred some more, and we got a nice-looking mixture.

Juliet with bowl

Then I measured out the buttermilk (1%), and alternated adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the pumpkin mixture until it was all fully incorporated.

buttermilk going on

Juliet with mixing

adding flour

I made the cinnamon sugar in a small bowl.

cinnamon sugar

Then, per the instructions, I tried to fill up the muffin cups one third of the way.

one third

I sprinkled the cinnamon sugar on each one, then topped them up with the rest of the batter. I had a lot of cinnamon sugar left, so I gave each one a very light sprinkle on top, right in the middle.

ready to go in

I baked for about 20 minutes. They came out looking good.

out of the oven

muffin

The verdict? I think they rely too heavily on the sugar and the spice. There’s not really enough pumpkin here, and the flavor feels a little…forced. They aren’t bad, and they were worth a try, but I won’t be adding these to the breakfast list. They’re just okay.

CINNAMON SWIRL PUMPKIN MUFFINS RECIPE

Oh, and this morning Nathaniel wanted the pancake mini muffins that I often make, but Juliet didn’t, so I had to come up with something else that made the right amount for one person. I found something I’d pinned a million years ago called Cinnamon Snails and gave it a shot. It didn’t have any measurements, just photos & descriptions, so I did the best I could. You cut the crusts of a slice or two of bread, put cream cheese on it, then roll them up the long way and cut them into sections. Then you roll each swirled “snail” in melted butter and cinnamon sugar and bake for 8 minutes. He loved them! It’s a fun Sunday morning kind of thing to whip together.

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