Mini Pumpkin Muffins

I've had every intention of making mini pumpkin muffins for almost two months now. But the 29c/lb bananas got the best of me three weeks in a row. And then there was the quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie that didn't include butter. That recipe doesn't exist, by the way. Perfect chocolate chip cookies must include real butter.

So finally I bring my belated, humble offering of pumpkin muffins. I searched high and low in the storage room for the mini muffin pan I was sure that I'd seen six months ago when I boxed up some bakeware that doesn't actually belong to me (long story). Not only that, but I also tried two different muffin recipes. One involved plain yogurt, which I was trying to use up after that delicious meatloaf that called for almost a full yogurt cup. The second, much more successful recipe came from my sister, and is the one that had me craving pumpkin muffins in the first place.

I feel the need to warn you that these muffins are unbelievably amazing. Please disregard any previous over-use or exaggeration of the term "unbelievable" which I may have ignorantly used in the past to describe a delicious food. THIS, my friends, is truly unbelievable. I didn't know muffins could taste this good. And I've eaten a lot of muffins!

So, without further adieu, I bring you Mini Pumpkin Muffins.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F
2. In a small bowl, combine:
   1 cup Canned (or home-pureed) Pumpkin
   1/2 cup Olive Oil (I used Canola)
   1/2 cup Sugar
   2 tbsp Molasses
   1 tsp Vanilla Extract
   1 Egg
   1-2 tbsp Water
3. Combine:
   1 tsp baking soda
   1 tsp milk
   (I combined them in a tablespoon measuring spoon)
4. Sift together:
   1 cup whole wheat flour
   1/2 tsp salt
   2 tsp Baking Powder
   2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
   1/2 tsp Ground Cloves
   1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg
5. Add the milk and baking soda to the wet ingredients
6. Carefully combine the wet and dry mixtures in a separate bowl. We've found that it works best to layer a little bit of each into the bowl at a time so that it takes fewer strokes to combine and you run less risk of over-mixing and ending up with tough muffins.
7. Bake for about 15 minutes, depending on your oven. Mine took 20 minutes.
   Warning: These muffins are so deliciously tender that they're actually pretty fragile. If you try to eat them before they cool, you'll probably just end up with a hand full of crumbs.

Yield: 28 Mini Muffins