These pumpkin muffins can be used for multiple holiday treats. | Photo courtesy of Bethany Linnenkohl

The leaves have begun to fall and the crisp wind chill reminds me of my home in Seattle, Wash. As the holidays come around, I find myself reminiscing about family traditions and desiring to implement them into my college life. In a few days, Halloween, also known as summer’s end or harvest festival, will be upon us and although some might consider college students to be too old to trick-or-treat, I’m not ready to give up and throw out all the traditions I used to do as a kid.

Go get lost in a corn maze, pick a pumpkin or two to carve, make some hand-pressed apple juice, dress up in something goofy, dance barefoot in the first rain of the season, bob for apples and then dip them in warm caramel, and eat something made with pumpkin whether it be pumpkin muffins, pancakes, bread, cheesecake, pie, lasagna, soup or roasted pumpkin seeds.

Here is a recipe for pumpkin muffins, a seasonal favorite that is oh so moist.

Pumpkin muffins

Ingredients:
-15 ounces pumpkin puree
-1 medium well-mashed banana
-4 eggs
-1 cup light olive oil
-2/3 cup water
-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
-1 1/2 cups white sugar
-1 cup packed brown sugar
-3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-2 teaspoons baking soda
-1 1/2 teaspoons salt
-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
-1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
-1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
-1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

The process

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin baking tray with baking cups.

-In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, banana, eggs, oil, water, vanilla extract and both sugars until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared muffin cups, until they are just over 3/4 full.

-Bake muffins for about 25 minutes. It is done when a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

“Broken glass” muffins are easy to make for Halloween. | Photo courtesy of Bethany Linnenkohl

“Broken glass” muffin

Here’s an idea from Martha Stewart’s Living magazine that is sure to thrill all of costumed friends that come over this Halloween:

Transform the previous recipe of pumpkin muffins into “broken glass” cupcakes by adding cream cheese frosting, edible glass and red icing that mimics blood.

For the frosting
-1 pound cream cheese, room temperature
-2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
-6 cups confectioner’s sugar
-1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Beat cream cheese and butter until pale and fluffy. Gradually add confectioner’s sugar and vanilla. Beat until creamy and spreadable.

For the glass
-1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
-3/4 cup water

In a small, high-sided saucepan, bring the granulated sugar and water to a boil, stirring continuously with a wooden spatula, until all of the sugar granules dissolve. Reduce the heat to medium-high, stop stirring the mixture and cook until the mixture just starts to turn pale gold around the edges.

This should take a couple of minutes and if you don’t cook it enough, the sugar won’t set up hard and instead you’ll have made a simple syrup. Remove from heat and immediately pour the sugar mixture onto a rimmed baking sheet or parchment paper in a thin and even layer. Let cool to harden completely and you are on your way to sugar sculpting. We’ll get to play with more sugar as the holidays continue.

For the blood
Stewart recommends using one cup cherry preserves, strained. I simply used food coloring with powdered sugar or you could just simply buy pre-made icing from the store.

For assembling the cupcakes, use an offset spatula to frost the cupcakes. Twist the baking sheet in order to break the hard sugar “glass.” Place a couple shards in the center of each cupcake. Drizzle or pipe the “blood” from where the “glass” has entered the cupcake.