Winter Warmers: Blythe's Best Ever Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

I traveled to Milwaukee for work last summer, and discovered their wonderful local coffee chain, Collectivo, that has that rarest of combinations – good food and good coffee. (Yes, I know it used to be Alterra, because nearly everyone I met told me that). One morning I tried a pumpkin cranberry muffin, and couldn’t for the life of me think why I had never heard of this genius idea. Two great fall flavors that go perfectly together! I hunted for a recipe when I got home, rejecting several because they used craisins rather than fresh cranberries (I was sure the muffin I had used fresh). The one I settled on apparently comes from Preventionrd.com, by way of Gourmet Magazine and the Smitten Kitchen. The only change I made was to substitute regular all purpose flour for the wheat pastry flour, which worked just fine.

Best Ever Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

• 1 1/2 C. whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 C. solid-pack pumpkin
• 1/3 C canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1 C + 1 Tbsp raw turbinado sugar
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 C. fresh cranberries
• 2 Tbsp unsalted pepitas

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin cups.

Whisk together flour and baking powder and set aside.

Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, 1 cup sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl until sooth, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined. Fold in cranberries.

Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about 3/4 full), then sprinkle tops with remaining tablespoon sugar and pepitas. Bake until puffed and golden brown and wooden pick or skewer comes out clean – 25-30 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack for five minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature (come on – eat it while it’s warm, with butter!) Yield: 12 muffins.

– Blythe AAR