Saturday Recipe Swap: Pumpkin Muffins... With My Little Muffin

Last week was a lesson/ crash course in letting go for me.  Muffins are such a great food to make, carry so many key ingredients, and are easy for little ones to eat.  I remember seeing pictures of Kristi's little ones eating muffins and looking forward to the day that Addie was beyond the oral sensitivity and could eat a muffin (okay, anything!), too.  Well, our day came (after much prayer), and sometimes I can easily forget the struggle we experienced in finding out which foods Addie could eat.

On Thursday of last week, I decided to make some pumpkin muffins.  But I also wanted to let Addie help.  She is with me all the time, and I hate having to tell her to "watch out, Mommy's cooking", so I asked her, "Do you want to help Mommy cook some muffins?"  (She understands "cook".  Bake was an abstract word to her until we made the muffins.)  "Ooohhhh, mussins! Yeah!" and she ran into the kitchen.

I pre-measured everything so there would be very little dead time, put on her little apron (Miss Nancy and Mr. Ernest, you will love the following pictures!), and I sat her down at her little pink school table (which was in the dining room). 

Was there a bit of a mess?  Yes (Mommy was actually responsible for the messes, Addie did extremely well!).  Did it take longer than usual to make these muffins?  Yes.  Was it worth it?  Absolutely!  As I saw Addie sitting in front of the oven waiting for her muffins to come out, and when I heard her tell Daddy all about her "mussins" and how she stirred slow and Mommy stirred fast, I thought to myself, "I will never make mussins by myself again."

Recipe taken from Better Homes And Gardens New Cookbook - 12th Edition

Ingredients:

3 cups sugar
1 cup cooking oil
4 eggs
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
2/3 cup water
1 15-ounce can pumpkin


Directions (as demonstrated by Addie)

1. If doing this with a small child, separate and prepare all ingredients ahead of time so they can truly participate. (I learned that a wet kitchen washcloth can wipe away anything that falls.)

2. Grease your muffin tin and set aside. (This recipe will make lots of muffins, so be prepared to grease your muffin tin a lot!)

3. In a very large mixing bowl, beat sugar and oil with an electric mixer on medium speed. 

4. Add eggs and beat well. Set aside.

5. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

6. Alternately, add flour mixture and water (second picture down) to sugar mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.

7. Beat in pumpkin.

8. Spoon batter into prepared tins.

9. Bake in a 350* F oven for 15-20 minutes (loaves are 55-65 minutes) or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the middle comes out clean.  Wait patiently.......

10. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes.

11. Remove from pans.  Cool completely on wire racks.

12. Enjoy every bite!