national oatmeal muffin day: mini pumpkin butter oatmeal muffins

I love spreads. Almond butter, peanut butter, all nut butters, you name it. Recently I discovered a different kind of spread that isn't nut-based but just as delicious and--if not more--satisfying: pumpkin butter! Well in my case, kabocha squash butter, but anyways...I'm not sure if any stores sell pumpkin butter; I haven't thoroughly checked Whole Foods, but pumpkin butter is super simple to make yourself, and healthy too :)

This pumpkin kabocha butter is creamy, thick, naturally sweetened with honey, and versatile enough that it tastes great atop almost anything from oatmeal to toast, rice crackers, fruit, etc. etc. The smell of spices and the earthy fragrance of pumpkin fill your kitchen as you make this butter, reminiscent of fall when it's clearly winter. I'm still in the autumn mood; I yearn for fall flavors. For some reason it doesn't feel too much like Christmas. Maybe the lack of holiday decorations on my street and minimal Christmas songs in my life are the cause of this, but peppermint hasn't really caught on in the kitchen for me either. 

Oh and happy national oatmeal muffin day! The next food holiday on my pilates calendar is national eggnog day, but I'm not sure I want to make eggnog considering I've never had it before and it apparently takes 8 hours?!?! So I dunno. Anyways, I made mini pumpkin kabocha butter oatmeal muffins this morning! Again I winged the recipe, and it took a lot longer to bake than normal mini muffins should, so I'll probably attempt again and tweak the recipe a bit later on. The long baking probably resulted from adding too much almond milk: I aimed for a tiny splash but ended up spilling about 1/4 of a cup into the batter...


Either way these mini muffins are moist and spongey, a little on the less sweeter side, but that can be easily solved with some extra pumpkin butter or almond butter on top of it :)

Update 1/28/13

I found pumpkin butter at Trader Joe's! They have them in the aisle with the rest of them butters. But why purchase a tiny and tad-overpriced jar when you can make a bunch at home :)  

Pumpkin Butter

yields about 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

15 oz pumpkin/kabocha puree
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger (I omitted this since I still don't have any)
pinch of salt

 * You can substitute the cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger with 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

- Combine the pumpkin puree, honey, and vanilla extract in a small sauce pan or pot over medium heat, mixing until well combined. Stir constantly and cook until thickened, about 15 minutes.
- Stir in the spices and salt and cook for 5 more minutes.
- Turn off the stove and remove the pan from the heat, then transfer the butter into a small bowl or a jar, and let it cool completely before you cover and refrigerate it. It will last about two weeks in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
 

Mini Pumpkin Butter Oatmeal Muffins

yields 12 mini muffins

Ingredients:

1 tbs coconut flour
2 tsp ground flaxseed
4 tbs steel-cut/rolled oats
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
6 tbs pumpkin butter
2 tsp brown sugar (or more if you want it to be sweeter)
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbs of almond milk

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 350° F and line a mini muffin tin with liners.
- In a small bowl, combine the coconut flour, ground flaxseed, oats, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and mix until combined.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the pumpkin butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract until well incorporated. Then add the dry ingredients in with the wet ingredients and mix until combined, slowly adding in the almond milk as you go.
- Scoop the batter into the liners and bake for 25-30 minutes depending on your oven.
- Remove, let cool, and serve!