Your Cooking Companion

Pumpkin Bread/Muffins/Mini-Muffins

Main photograph of prepared recipe.

Very moist and deeply satisfying, this pumpkin bread is made with the comfort spices of clove and cinnamon, with just a few nuts and dried cranberries or chocolate chips, for the decadence factor. If someone in your home likes pumpkin, these will make them very happy! A wonderful breakfast, snack, or dessert for all year 'round.

On mobile? Click "Listen in browser".

Difficulty Level

Easy

Hard

Needed Items

Durations

  • Measuring and mixing: 15 min
    Baking: 15 min for mini-muffins, 25 min for regular muffins, 70 min for loaves

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup shortening
    2 2/3 cups granulated sugar
    4 eggs
    1 pound (1 can) pumpkin
    2/3 cup water
    3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
    2 teaspoons baking soda
    1 1/2 teaspoons salt
    1/2 teaspoon baking powder
    1 teaspoon cinnamon
    1 teaspoon cloves
    1/2 to 2/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)
    2/3 cup raisins, dried cranberries, or chocolate chips

Number of Servings

  • Two 9"x5"x3" loaves, or 24 muffins, or 56 mini-muffins

Equipment

  • Electric mixer
    Loaf pan or muffin pans
    Wooden toothpicks, for testing when the loaves are fully cooked

Do-Aheads

  • Grease pan(s) or spray with non-stick cooking spray
    Chop nuts, if using

Additional Notes

I usually make this as a sweet bread, baked in regular loaf pans. For this podcast, I decided to use the recipe to make mini-muffins, and as you’ll hear, I wasn’t positive about how many I’d get or how long they’d need to cook. Here is that information, if you want to try the mini-muffin version:

Yield: 48 mini-muffins PLUS 2 mini-loaves (I ran out of mini-muffin pans!)
Cook time: Mini-muffins–15 minutes, mini-loaves–52 minutes

And again, cook loaves of any size at 350° and muffins of any size at 375°.

Here’s where to get the Penzeys Cinnamon Sugar, with the vanilla bean seeds in it, for sprinkling on top.



Read the blog about this recipe