Maple Pumpkin Muffins

This recipe is one of my old standbys. I've probably made these muffins about a million times and they always turn out so I find myself returning to them again and again. I've been toying with the idea of tweaking them to make them gluten free or swapping out some of the flour for a nut flour but I'll save that for another day. And while these have an obvious Fall vibe to them, you can find pumpkin puree year round so you can definitely make these in any season. Also, randomly, one of my favorite things about this recipe is that is always give you exactly 12 muffins. Maybe it's just me, but I can't ever seem to yield the exact amount a recipe states. So, there's something oddly comforting about the consistency of this recipe. Hence, the "ole standby" status.

Anyway, I love these because they're not too sweet and the maple syrup adds a subtle depth of flavor that plays off of the warm spices really well. And they're super moist because of the pumpkin puree. They are great for breakfast, or a snack with a cup of coffee.

makes 12 muffins

2 c organic unbleached all purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1 15oz can of organic pumpkin puree (Trader Joe's makes my favorite!)
1/3 c organic coconut oil, melted
2 cage free eggs
1 t pumpkin pie spice (or 1/2 t each of clove, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg + cardamom)
3/4 c pure maple syrup
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t pink himalayan sea salt
1 t cinnamon
3 T raw turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin tin with liners. In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon and turbinado sugar and set aside. Whisk together the flour and baking powder in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, coconut oil, pumpkin pie spice, maple syrup, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients and whisk until batter is smooth. Using an ice cream scoop, fill the muffin tin so that each muffin cup is about 3/4 of the way full. Sprinkle the muffins with the cinnamon sugar mixture and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.