30 Days of Pumpkin-Day Three: Rye Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin and Rye sounds like a strange combination, but they make a great team.  I found this recipe for pumpkin bread on the PBS food site.  I prefer muffins for portion control so I made the batter into muffins instead.

Sometimes bread that contains rye is a little dry or gritty.  Not this bread!  The pumpkin keeps the bread moist. I think the rye must soak up the moisture enough to puff up the flour bits to prevent the baked bread from having a gritty texture.

The muffins themselves taste surprisingly pumpkiny.  Sometimes when you make pumpkin bread you can't taste the pumpkin at all because the sugar is so overpowering.  The sweetness and pumpkin flavors are quite evenly balanced in this recipe.

We Blockos found that the taste of the muffins was so flavorful on its own, and they were so moist as well, there was no need for butter at all.

Rye Pumpkin Bread/Muffins from PBS
1 c flour
1/2 c rye flour
1 t baking powder
1 c pumpkin pureé
1/3 c veg oil
2 eggs
1 t cinnamon
1/8 t freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 t cloves
1/8 t ginger
1/8 t cardamom
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/4 c chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 F. spray 9x5 loaf pan (or line muffin tin with papers.) Set aside.
In med bowl, whisk flours and baking powder. In another med bowl, add pumpkin, oil, eggs, spices, sugars, baking soda and salt; whisks smooth. Fold in flour mix until just combined. Over mixing will result in tough bread. Fold in walnuts. Transfer batter to pan or 12 muffin cups.  Bake the loaf for 25 to 30 minutes, or until they are puffed, golden brown and a wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes and serve warm.(It took 25 min for the muffins to cook as well.)