Pumpkin Cornmeal Muffins

These muffins really surprised me. Especially since I don't really like pumpkin and I don't really like corn muffins. I mean, I didn't used to. I had some good ones at a restaurant in New York once, and I like the corn bread topping on my crockpot enchilada casserole, but I don't really turn to corn muffins as a bread of choice. Until now.These are good on their own of course, but really best as a side dish to some kind of hearty soup or stew. We had them with vegetable soup, and our little family of four made a large dent in the batch. Daddy finished them off for a late night Sports Center snack.

These muffins come from Real Simple magazine. I used to subscribe, but after awhile got overwhelmed by all the good ideas I couldn't implement, so I let it run out. But once in awhile my search on MyRecipes.com brings up a Real Simple recipe, and every single time those recipes are indeed simple and reliably awesome. Seriously, if you have doubts but are open minded, give these a try. So surprising - so good!
Pumpkin Cornmeal Muffins
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
4 eggs
1 15-ounce can solid pumpkin
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly coat muffin tins with cooking spray (12 regular cups or 24 minis.)

2. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to slow, add the remaining ingredients, and beat for 3 minutes or just until smooth.

3. Spoon the batter into the muffin pans. Bake 25 to 30 minutes (15 to 20 for minis - watch them) or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Makes 12 muffins or 24 mini muffins.

Recipe from Real Simple, October 2001