Pumpkin muffins

Like most Indians, I knew nothing about baking when I first came to the US. I had always enjoyed my bread and my cookies, but thought of baking as very esoteric until a dear friend of mine walked me through a brownie-out-of-a-box baking session on a cold wintry Chicago evening two decades ago, and I have been hooked ever since. The same friend also shared many of her family recipes with me - one such being her mother's recipe for pumpkin muffins. I made these tonight and and were really delicious. I tweaked the original recipe just a little so that there is more whole wheat flour and slightly less sugar, but the result is still yummy. Here's the modified recipe-

Flour 3.5 cups

Sugar 2.5 cups

Salt 1 tsp

Baking powder 0.5 tsp

Baking soda 2 tsp

Eggs 4 (beaten) - substitute with Egg replacer for a vegan version

Cinnamon 1.5 tsp

Cloves 0.75 tsp

Nutmeg 0.75 tsp

Canned pumpkin 2 cups

Oil 2/3 cup

Water 2/3 water

Nuts and/or dark chocolate chips 1 cup (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix all ingredients. Pour into muffin cups (can also make pumpkin bread by pouring into 2 greased loaf pans). Bake 25-35 mins (depending on size) at 350 F.

Enjoy the warm smells of the spices that fill your home as your muffins bake!