The house held a chill this morning, a foreshadowing of times to come, and I woke up feeling a need to celebrate the change. Bundled in a cozy robe and intention, I made my way to the kitchen, imagining the smell of pumpkin muffins. It is a yearly, predictable ritual with me, this little jump on the season where I begin to see the changes in the colors on the trees, where the mornings, like this one, tease that cooler days are upon us. The truth is that here the days are still hot, but bookended by nights that become chillier and mornings like this one that call for a robe and slippers.
Yesterday, I created the September porch–also a yearly ritual. I planted mums and put out my artificial pumpkins. With so many squirrels in the neighborhood, real pumpkins are not even a remote possibility. The little buggers trash them and the porch looks like they had a drunken kegger. So, artificial pumpkins, that blend in with the real flowers and plants in the front is the order of the day. This morning was a total Martha Stewart “get off” with a September porch gracing the front of the house, pumpkin muffins in the oven and my usual cup of hot tea, enjoying the cool temperature. Very satisfying.
In a short bit, I will meet my friend Linda at the trailhead for our Thursday morning walk and I will watch for the trees that are just starting to don the autumn palate. In the meantime, I am enjoying a pumpkin muffin and have already been outside to admire my September porch and smile. Life is good.
Below is the recipe for gluten-free muffins (made with coconut flour). I substituted 3/4 of a can of organic pumpkin for the two bananas. When you use pumpkin, make sure to add a good teaspoon of “pumpkin pie spice” to the mix. If the batter is too stiff, add a tablespoon more coconut oil. Don’t you just love September?
Coconut Flour Muffins
Wet Ingredients: 6 eggs 4 tablespoons of coconut oil (melted) 2 heaping tablespoons of honey 2 good sized ripe bananas ¼ tsp vanilla
Dry Ingredients: ½ cup coconut flour ½ cup nut pieces (pecan or walnut) ¼ teaspoon salt (optional) ½ teaspoon baking powder 1/8 scant teaspoon of Xanthium gum
Optional: ½ cup blueberries
Put all wet ingredients in blender until smooth.
Put all dry ingredients in a bowl. Slowly mix in wet, blended ingredients into the dry ingredient in bowl.
Fold in blueberries.
Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Larger muffins take a little longer bake time than the mini muffins. Makes 12 muffins or 24 mini muffins.
