Buttermilk Pumpkin and Oat Muffins

I don't have anything to intro with.  I had pumpkin puree in the freezer from last fall when we got a ton of sugar pumpkins from a friend.  I knew I'd be home today.  I felt like making muffins.  They were awesome.  There's not much else to say.

It's St. Patrick's Day... and there's really nothing Irish about these muffins.  I mean, I'm sure they have pumpkins and muffins in Ireland, so they could be Irish.  But that wasn't really my intention or anything.  I'm just going to use it as an excuse for an Irish tune.  Justin had Dropkick Murphys' "Good Rats" on today, so that's what I'm using.  -jen

BUTTERMILK PUMPKIN AND OAT MUFFINS
Prep Time:  20 minutes
Cook Time:  22-25 minutes
Makes:  12 muffins

Topping:

• 1/4 cup old fashioned oats, uncooked
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Muffins:

• 1.5 cups flour
• 1 cup old fashioned oats, uncooked
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup raisins or cranberries
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• zest of 1 orange (about 2 teaspoons)
• 1 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line 12-cup muffin tin with paper cups.

In a small bowl, combine all topping ingredients, mix and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, pecans, raisins, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger,  baking soda, salt and orange zest.  Mix to combine.

In a medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, buttermilk, vegetable oil, egg and vanilla.  Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and fold together just until dry ingredients are moist.  (Do not over-mix.)

Spoon evenly into paper cups.  Sprinkle with topping and bake for 22-25 minutes, until golden brown and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Let cool for 5 minutes. 

Spiced Cranberry Sauce

(Not my pic.)

We both grew up with cranberry sauce out of a can... and when we discovered how easy it is to make your own and customize it,  I don't think we could ever go back to the canned version.  Earlier in the year I discovered Pomanders, which are oranges studded with whole cloves and used as a room freshener.  We hung several of them up in our house, in closets, in the hallway, and they really made our house smell amazing... we both fell in love with the smell of oranges and cloves combined. So when I decided to make a cranberry sauce today, I decided to go heavy on the orange and also use cloves.  Sweet, tart, slightly spicy... it pretty much smells like the holidays.

Fresh rinsed ranberries

(Here's a how-to for making your own pomander.)

I've really been trying to cut back the sugar in recipes and I did so in this one as well.  Most cranberry sauce recipes you find will use up to a cup of sugar or honey.  With this one, I figured I've got the orange juice, the cranberry juice, the apple, the Triple Sec... plenty of sweet but a lot of tart.  If you're not big into tart, you might want to use 1 cup of sugar in the recipe.

And in the holiday spirit, I chose Jim Carroll singing "People Who Died".  (I apologize for the video showing Leo and Marky Mark.)  -jen

SPICED CRANBERRY SAUCE 
Difficulty:  Easy
Time:  20 minutes
Makes: 2 and 1/4 cups

Orange & Lemon Zest

• juice and zest of one orange (about 1/3 cup juice)
• juice and zest of one lemon (about 3 tablespoons juice)
• 1/2 cup cranberry juice
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 12 oz bag of fresh cranberries, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup Triple Sec liqueur 
• 1 apple (your choice), diced
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

In a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat, bring orange juice, lemon juice, cranberry juice and sugar to a boil.  Add rinsed cranberries and bring back to a boil (about 5 minutes).  Lower heat to a simmer and add citrus zests, Triple Sec, diced apple, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.  Simmer for 10-15 minutes (but not more than 15 minutes or it won't set).  Remove from heat and let set.  Serve at room temp or chilled - it's up to you.