This week I received a birthday gift from my good friend Kim. Kim is a fellow food blogger (Strawberry Ginger) and actually inspired me to stop talking about starting a food blog and to actually start writing!

For my birthday, she bought me the coolest gift ever, an actual stock certificate for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia! Once I received it in the mail, I immediately went out looking for the perfect frame. It is now hanging in the kitchen! Awesome!!

I made Pumpkin Muffins in celebration of Kim purchasing this gift for me. There are two reasons:

• Kim loves cooking with pumpkin. Last winter she whipped up a batch of pumpkin muffins, and shared a tin of them with us. They were absolutely delicious!
• Every year I make a pumpkin soup from a well loved issue of Martha Stewart Living. I make this soup once a year, and it has turned into an annual party. Last year we had sixteen people in attendance!

Kim + Martha = Pumpkin Muffins!

The great thing about pumpkin is that even though you mentally think of it as a fall treat, it is always readily available in the grocery store in the baking aisle, along with other canned fruit and pie fillings. Be sure to grab a can of pumpkin puree, and not the seasoned and sweetened pie filling. 

I decided to sweeten the muffins with a combination of sugar and maple syrup. Luckily I live in Ottawa, so fresh and delicious maple syrup is always available! I also used maple extract instead of vanilla to ramp up that maple flavour.

When I was gathering up my ingredients, I noticed that I didn’t have any milk, but I did have a case of almond milk in the cupboard (we had just come back from Costco). I have never baked with almond milk before, but I figured I would give it a try. I don’t think you can even tell that there is no milk in these. To top it off (no pun intended J ) I topped the muffins with slivers of almonds.

*Note – you have to make sure to let people know that they are made with almond milk in case you are sharing them with people who have a nut allergy or sensitivity.

So Kim, these muffins are for you! Thanks so much for the fantastic birthday gift! You rock!!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Adapted from:
Nooschi – Pumpkin Muffins
Strawberry Ginger – Pumpkin and Apple Muffins with Flax

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp maple extract
• slivered almonds

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In large bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and dry spices together.
3. In medium bowl, mix the maple syrup, pumpkin, almond milk, egg, vegetable oil and maple extract together.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix well with a fork.
5. Spoon the muffin mixture into greased muffin tins until they are about 3/4 full.  Top with slivered almonds before placing in oven.
6. Bake for 25-28 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool on rack.
7. Enjoy!  But don’t be surprised if they don’t last long!