Mini Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients

Muffins

• 1 ½ cups canned pumpkin puree
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup canola oil
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

Apple Butter

• 6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
• 1 ½ cups apple cider
• 2 tablesppons light brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

For the muffins:

1. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350°. Place paper liners in 48 mini-muffin tins.

2. Whisk the pumpkin, sugar, oil and eggs in a large bowl until combined. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Fill the lined muffin tins with a tablespoon of batter.

3. Bake until the tops are golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and set aside to cool. Serve with Apple Butter.

For the Apple Butter:

1. Bring the apples and cider to a boil over high heat in a large saucepan. Lower the heat to medium and cook until the apples are tender, about 30 minutes. Set aside to cool for about 20 minutes.

2. Using an immersion blender, regular blender, or food processor, process the apple mixture until smooth. Return to the saucepan, add the sugar and cinnamon and cook until reduced by half, about 30 minutes. Cover and refrigerate up to two weeks.