Pumpkin Raisin Muffins

Okay now, be honest.  Are you still all sugared up from last night?  Did you eat more Halloween candy than you gave out?  Or did you "check" your kids candy and take out all of the delicious treats for yourself?  C'mon, fess up!  Well, even if you might not want to admit it, I'm sure you need a little candy detox.

Growing up, we never had the problem of eating more candy than we gave out.  The reason for this?  In all the years that my parents have lived at their house, not a single trick-or-treater ever came to the door.  Did that stop my dad from buying five bags of candy every year?  No.  When asked why he was putting all those bags of candy in the grocery cart, the answer was always "for the trick-or-treaters."  Big ole liar.  Dad likes candy, plain and simple.  We always ate more candy than we gave out, always.

Even now I can say that I've never answered the door of my own home to a trick-or-treater.  Since moving away from my parents home, I've lived in apartments.  Boyfriend, on the other hand, grew up in a classic suburban subdivision.  He has many memories of costume-clad children ringing the doorbell and screaming for candy.  He describes it as "annoying."  I guess when you're trying to get stuff done, going to the door every two minutes might get a bit old. 

So, for now I have continued my trick-or-treaterless existance.  Perhaps boyfriend and I will buy a house, then we'll have ghosts, pirates and pixies ringing our doorbell on October 31st.  Until then, I'll keep buying the candy, just in case.

Pumpkin Raisin Muffins

Adapted from The Sono Baking Company Cookbook

Okay, so these aren't really all that low on sugar.  I think that you could easily cut it in half and be totally fine.  I fed these to my coworkers and they had nothing but good things to say about them.  Although I'm still relatively new there, maybe they are just being nice?  I guess you'll have to try these for yourself and you can be the judge!

I had been a little disappointed with this cookbook in the past.  The few recipes that I tried didn't quite seem to work out right for me.  The muffins were too greasy, the cookies were too dense, but finally I've found a winner.  I tweaked this recipe just a little, reducing the flour a little to lighten up the texture and omitting the apple sauce for more pumpkin puree.  The flavor is rich and the spices are perfect, enjoy these all season long!

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp coarse salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 large eggs, at room temperature
10 ounces pumpkin puree (about 1 1/8 cup)
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 F and line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and clove.  Set aside.

In a larger bowl, combing sugar, oil, eggs and pumpkin puree.  Add flour mixture and stir until the flour is just moistened.  Do not overstir.  Add raisins and fold in.

Using an ice cream scoop, or 1/4 cup measure, add batter to each paper liner (cups should be about 2/3 full).  Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with just crumbs attached.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack.  After 10 minutes, tip each muffin on its side and allow to cool completely in the pan.  Enjoy!