Pumpkin Muffins

Trust me, you'll want to make these (even if the picture is yellow-tinted, so strange). After finding some great reviews and pictures on a blog that I can't remember now, I had to hunt and hunt and hunt to find the actual recipe! It was from a Tuesdays with Dorrie challenge and even though I know she's a famous baker of some sort, I'd never tried her recipes until now and this one is defintely a keeper. I haven't heard great things about her chocolate chip cookies, but if anyone else has tried any of her recipes let me know!

I actually tweaked the add-ins for this one, since I knew I'd be giving some of them away and I know some people are pretty picky about nuts (even though Ryan and I absolutely love them, hurray!) so I left them out and exchanged them for chocolate chips and dried craisins instead. I also saw someone switch out craisins for fresh cranberries and that looked to die for too, so I want to try that soon too!

Pumpkin Muffins
adapted from Dorrie Greenspan's recipe
found on Sounding my Barbaric Gulp

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
a few shakes of ground allspice
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temp.
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree
1/4 cup buttermilk, I just poured almost a cup of skim milk into a bowl and then added 1 Tablespoon of distilled vinegar to the milk and mixed. *Hm, actually I think I mixed in 3/4 cup buttermilk instead of 1/4 cup, which is why my mixture before the flour looked a little questionable, but it totally worked out. Mine were super moist and delicious so you could totally do what I did, or actually follow the recipe..
1/2 cup golden raisins, I added craisins instead, since I love them so
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, I switched the nuts for chocolate chips 
about 1/3 cup sunflower seeds, for topping, I topped with the chocolate chips

• Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray 12 cupcake molds fit with paper cups. 
• Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Set aside.
• Working with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed until soft. Add both the sugars and continue to beat until light and smooth.
• One by one, add the eggs, beating for a minute after they are incorporated, then beat in the vanilla.
• Lower the mixer speed and mix in the pumpkin and buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients in a steady stream, mixing only until they disappear. To avoid overmixing, you can stop the machine early and stir in any remaining dry ingredients into the batter using a rubber spatula.
• Stir in the raisins and nuts (or whatever add-ins you're using). Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle a few sunflower seeds/chocolate chips over the top of each muffin.
• Bake for about 17 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. 
• Transfer the pan to a rack and cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the pan, then carefully remove each one from its mold to finish cooling on the rack.
• My batch made about 18 muffins, but you can make less and make the muffins bigger as well