Do you remember the canned pumpkin shortage last year? Maybe not if you only use canned pumpkin occasionally around this time of year to make pumpkin pie. It seems the heavy rainfall last year damaged a high percentage of the pumpkin crop before it could be harvested. The decreased pumpkin harvest didn’t affect things right away but the big holiday for pumpkin use, Thanksgiving, was just around the corner. There was a lot of talk that people might not be able to find 100% canned pumpkin on the shelves when they wanted to make pies. Thankfully, cans randomly were seen on grocery store shelves and people still managed to make their pies. Once the holiday had passed poor canned pumpkin went back to being completely ignored.

     Me, when I heard pumpkin shortage, I took action. While most people use pumpkin only for pies I actually use it for everything except pies. There’s pumpkin cookies, muffins, cakes, pudding, smoothies, biscuits, breads and brownies. Pumpkin can replace mashed squash in veggie side dishes. Pumpkin is great in many main dishes too! It can be added to soups, chili and sauces. It has a mild taste so, for those moms out there who might need to sneak a nutritious veggie (high in vitamin A, antioxidants, 20% daily fiber) into other foods, pumpkin mixes well with lots of things. Ahem…not that I wouldn’t know anything about doing that sort of thing.

     If you know all about canned pumpkin then head straight to the recipe and give it a try. If you’ve never bought canned pumpkin OR have only bought pumpkin pie filling then here’s a few things you might want to know.

- Always check the ingredients label before you buy pumpkin. Sometimes other ingredients such as sugar are added. If you purchased Pumpkin Pie Filling you will find it has sugar and spices. For cooking and baking you only want 100% pumpkin.

- If you check the ingredients label and it says 100% Hubbard squash it’s still pumpkin. Evidently Hubbard squash or Golden Hubbard squash is similar to the orange pumpkin that we’ve all come to think of as being in our pies. It looks pretty much like a regular pumpkin. Seems to taste like it too since we’ve all most likely eaten it and haven’t noticed the difference between them.

- Which brings me to the next point. If you can’t find canned pumpkin and don’t feel like making your own then use another type of pureed winter squash in its place. Now on to the recipe.

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

1/2 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt

2 large eggs at room temp

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon powder

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Streusel Topping

1/3 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup sugar (brown or granulated)

1/3 cup wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of salt

* Preheat your oven to 400 F. Line a muffin tin with muffin cups or lightly grease the tin.

* Start by making the streusel. In a bowl combine the butter, sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt with a fork. The mixture will be crumbly. Set the mixture aside for now and make the muffins.

* In a large bowl combine the melted butter, pumpkin, yogurt, eggs and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.

* In another bowl combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt and sugars.

* Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until just combined. Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups. Top each muffin with a spoonful of streusel topping.

* Bake muffins for 16 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean.

12 muffins that weigh in around 3 ounces each

TIP: You can replace the whole wheat flour with a blend of wheat and all purpose flour if your family won’t eat 100% whole wheat items. I’ve also made this recipe with a 50/50 blend of wheat and spelt flour. It might need a little more yogurt or pumpkin if it’s a bit too thick to stir.

FREEZER TIP: these muffins freezer well. Wrap them up individually, take them out before you leave for work or the kids leave for school and they should be thawed in time to eat. If you have access to a microwave they are even better tasting if you can warm them up for 20 seconds or so.

This post is being linked back to the following blogs. Stop in to check out all the other great recipes, tips and ideas:

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