Receta Pumpkin Cinnamon Muffins and Cooking Lessons from Grizelda The Ghastly Gourmet
Who was your favorite ghoulish character as a kid?
Frankenstein? Dracula? Casper? Oh wait he was a nice ghost…my bad.
Mine was Grizelda the Ghastly Gourmet.
Not familiar with Grizelda? Let me introduce her to you. She’s a witch, really ugly (although she thinks she’s hot), cooks a lot of dreadful looking stuff in her huge black cauldron and has a stuffed dead bird named Polly. If you ever watched an old T.V show called The Hilarious House of Frightenstein you would have seen Grizelda.
Halloween got me thinking of Grizelda, which made me think of a cauldron, which made me think of soup (pumpkin soup in particular), which made me realize I didn’t have any broth, which made me say ‘screw the soup idea’, which is why I made Pumpkin Cinnamon Muffins instead.
Baking muffins is super easy!
If you can read, follow a recipe, set an oven at the proper temperature and work a timer, you’re good. Sure there’s the possibility you might over mix the batter and end up with slightly tough muffins but pffft…who hasn’t done that?
For this recipe be sure to use canned pumpkin with no spices added. If you use the one with the spices you’ll end up spewing out a big Grizelda “Blah” after tasting them. If you don’t have wheat bran, use an extra ½ cup of flour and yes you can use the baking soda in your fridge, I do it all the time.
Although Grizelda was damn ugly she cooked in a beautiful way. She experimented, laughed if she made a mistake, cracked some lame jokes and sang a little ditty or two to keep it fun! If you’re new to cooking, baking muffins and following Grizelda’s easy going attitude in the kitchen is a great place to start!
Song Suggestion: With Halloween just around the corner, I'm pairing these Pumpkin Cinnamon Muffins with JS Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor". Not familiar with this one? Give it a listen and I bet you'll know it. Better yet, bake these muffins at night and while they are in the oven, turn out the lights and listen to this song. Very creepy.
Pumpkin muffins with a hint of cinnamon
Makes: 12 Ghastly Muffins
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Total Time: 35 min
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup wheat bran (you’ll find it in the cereal aisle)
- ½ tsp each baking soda, salt and ground ginger
- 1½ cups canned pumpkin (no spices added)
- ½ cup lightly packed brown sugar
Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine flour, wheat bran, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and ground ginger. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine pumpkin, egg, milk, brown sugar, oil and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and mix just until moistened. Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin pan cups.
Bake in a 375º F oven for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove muffins and let cool on a wire rack.
More Muffin Recipes
Pineapple Carrot Muffins
Blueberry Bran Muffins
Banana Strawberry Muffins