Recipe: Pumpkin, Sage and Browned-Butter Quick Muffins (Martha Stewart)

Over here in KL, we are able to get pumpkin almost all year round, at a very reasonable price. Usually I would buy a couple and let them ripen nicely before cooking them, either roasted or steamed. Since I'm very much into baking muffins for my family nowadays, I decided to try this recipe for pumpkin, sage and browned butter quick muffins from Martha Stewart's website. Well, actually her recipe makes 8 mini loaves, but I didn't have that many mini loaf tins, so I just made them as muffins.

Pumpkin, sage and Browned-butter quick muffins

I actually made these close to Halloween but saved this recipe posting til "Cook Like Marta Stewart" month. This is a great recipe for using up any of your leftover pumpkin from Halloween. We cut out some ghouls using the fresh sage leaves, for a bit of fun ;)

Although the recipe calls for pumpkin from a can, you can easily make your own pumpkin puree using fresh pumpkin. Just steam or boil the pumpkin until soft, then puree using a hand blender. Use a really ripe pumpkin as it will have a sweeter  flavour. Sage is a herb that goes really well with pumpkin. It is added to the browned butter which lends a rich nuttiness to the bread. I actually used a little more pumpkin than required, so what I got was a muffin with a soft, moist texture which reminded me of kuih bingka ubi kayu (tapioca kuih). It is quite dense and packed full of pumpkin. Great eaten as a snack on its own or served with a soup, as we did here. This muffin is best eaten warm.

Baby C wanted them all! ;)

Pumpkin, Sage, and Browned-Butter Quick Muffins
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30-35 minutes
Makes 8


Ingredients
300g pumpkin puree

85g unsalted butter
1 1/2 tbsp fresh sage, cut into thin strips, plus more, whole, for garnish
105g all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
A pinch of ground cloves (I omitted this)
1/2 tsp salt
90g light-brown sugar
1 large egg

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180C). 

2. Line a muffin tin with 8-cupcake/muffin liners.

3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add sage strips, and cook until butter turns golden brown, about 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer mixture to a bowl, and let cool slightly.

4. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.

5. To make your own pumpkin puree, steam or boil the pumpkin until soft. Scrape off the flesh, leaving the skin, and place in a bowl and puree with a hand blender until smooth. Note: Use a very ripe pumpkin as it has a much sweeter flavour.

6. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, sugar, eggs, and browned butter with sage. Add flour mixture, and whisk until incorporated.

7. Divide mixture evenly among 8 liners. Smooth tops gently using an offset spatula.

8. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Transfer muffin to a wire rack, and allow to cool completely. Garnish with whole fresh sage leaves before serving.

*Note: This is half the original amount stated in recipe.

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I am submitting this to the "Cook Like Martha Stewart" bloghop which I am co-hosting with Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Jocelyn of Riceball Eats. To join, simply cook or bake any recipe from any Martha Stewart websites or cookbooks and blog hop with us for the whole month of December 2012.

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