The Best Pumpkin Muffins

Seriously. No. Seriously.

Moist. Spicy. Tender. Delicious. And… vegan! No, that’s not a typo. I said vegan. No butter, no eggs, no milk. Yet, still surprisingly delicious.

There’s not enough words to describe the wonder that is these vegan pumpkin muffins. I made these with some minor alterations using Isa Chandra Mosokowitz’ recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance. I brought them to a recent gathering and they were simply devoured (and not just by me).

I doubled the basic recipe, since I was baking for a crowd, substituted pumpkin pie spice (in lieu of measuring tiny bits of each spice) and made two kinds of glaze (lemon and molasses) which I dipped the baked, cooled muffins into before serving.

The recipe (my way):

Wet ingredients: whisk into a medium sized bowl

2 cups canned pumpkin (I found it in the baking aisle. If you buy one of those big cans, you’ll have some left over for some yummy pumpkin “butter”).
1 cup soy creamer (I used vanilla. You can usually find this in the grocery store these days, although it might be in a different place with other non-dairy and organic foods, like soy ice cream and organic cheese)
1 cup oil (I used canola, but you could use vegetable or olive if you like)
1/4 cup molasses (you could use more, but this seemed like the right amount)

Dry ingredients: sift into a large mixing bowl

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I guess you could substitute some with whole wheat, but I haven’t tried it yet)
2 1/2 cups sugar (This seems like a lot of sugar to me, although I didn’t think the muffins were overly sweet. I think I might decrease the amount next time and substitute some maple syrup or stevia.)
2 tablespoons baking powder (this makes it rise)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice (Go ahead and make it 2 if you want)

For the glaze:

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1-2 tablespoons water
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice or molasses (or really an combination of anything else, like vanilla extract and maple syrup)
1/8 teaspoon salt (salt really brings out the flavors in sweetly flavored baked goods, trust me)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. After whisking, pour the wet ingredients into the sifted dry ingredients and mix until just combined (don’t over mix or they won’t be as fluffy). I used an average sized ice cream scoop to portion the batter into two lightly greased, 12 muffin tins (I sprayed them with an olive oil spray, but anything will do). If you’re oven is large enough, you can bake both trays at once for about 20 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean). If you can’t fit both trays in at once, you might want to reduce the cooking time to about 18 minutes (or you get a crispier, darker crust to the bottom of the muffins–which is nice too).

Allow the muffins to cool for at least 10 minutes in their tins, then invert onto a wire rack and let cool completely. This will keep them from being mashed as you dump them out of the tins (vegan foods sometimes need a few extra minutes to set up) and will prevent them from getting soggy and too moist on the bottom. I found a few basting racks–typically used to elevate a turkey off the floor of a roasting pan–that I use to cool baked goods on my kitchen counter.

Once cooled, you can serve them as is, or top with anything you like. Whipped cream might make it more pumpkin pie like, but I made a glaze and dipped them in halfway so the non-vegan crowd would be more likely to try them. I might try a cream cheese frosting sometime to see how that turns out.

For the glaze, beat the ingredients together with a fork, adding the water one tablespoon at a time to get the desired consistency. I like my glaze a little thinner, so I usually add both tablespoons of water, sometimes more. This is a great, simple topping for just about anything cake-like or sweet, like cinnamon rolls, cakes, cookies, etc.

Make sure to put some wax paper, or foil down beneath your wire racks before glazing your muffins so that the excess drips down onto it for easy cleanup. You can drizzle the glaze over the top with the fork, or simple dip whatever you want into the bowl. I like the dipping method best because it saves time and ends up being slightly less messy.

Allow the glaze to set for at least 20 minutes before you try to transport them. The longer it sits, the harder the glaze will get. If you want to be extra cautious, you could give them an hour to set before packing them up. I found these muffins didn’t really need a glaze at all, but then, I’m not really partial to especially sweet treats. I popped one of these unglazed babies into the toaster oven for breakfast and the outside was delightfully crisp and toasty while the inside stayed moist. Yum, yum, yum. An excellent breakfast, or after dinner treat with coffee.

Advertisement