Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins -- Something Warm Before the Cold Sets In

Halloween. Josie is a princess. Tyler is a zombie. Amber is a witch, which she says is ironic, and I am not sure she knows what ironic means but I am not going to argue with a twelve-year-old on Halloween. Justin is a football player, which required no costume at all since he just wore his actual football uniform, and I respect the efficiency.

We trick-or-treated the south side of Grand Island, hitting the neighborhood where the houses are close together and the porch lights are on and the candy is good. Dave walked with us because he likes Halloween more than he will admit. Gayle handed out candy at her house and reportedly gave full-size candy bars, which makes her the most popular woman on her block and which she will deny when I ask her about it later.

I made chili for the pre-trick-or-treat dinner, because you need something hot and fast before you send four kids into the cold to beg strangers for candy, which is essentially what Halloween is when you strip away the costumes. Chili, cornbread, done. Eat, dress, go. The kids were too excited to eat properly, so I packed the cornbread in a bag and they ate it while walking, dropping crumbs for the squirrels, which Josie said was sharing and I said was littering and we agreed to disagree.

The candy haul was massive. Four kids times forty houses equals more sugar than any household should contain. I let them each pick ten pieces to keep and then I took the rest, which sounds cruel but is actually survival. I put the overflow in a bag in the freezer, where it will be forgotten until February, when I will eat it during a snowstorm and feel no guilt. Frozen Halloween candy in February is self-care. I stand by this.

After the kids were in bed, Dave and I sat on the couch and ate Reese Cups and watched a movie, and the house was quiet, and the jack-o-lanterns on the porch were still glowing, and I thought about Darla, who loved Halloween, who dressed as a cat every year until she was sixteen, who would have made the best costumes for her kids. I let myself think about her for five minutes. Then I ate another Reese Cup and went to bed. That is how grief works in this house: five minutes and a piece of chocolate. It is not enough. It is what I have.

The cornbread that night was a bag-and-go situation — eaten while walking, crumbled into the grass for the squirrels — and it deserved better than that. These gluten-free pumpkin muffins are what I make when I want something that feels like October all the way through: warm from the oven, spiced just enough, the kind of thing you can hand a kid before they disappear into the dark in a costume. Next Halloween, the muffins come out before the chili does. Josie and the squirrels will both be better for it.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 22 min | Total Time: 32 min | Servings: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour blend
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil or melted coconut oil
• 1/4 cup milk or dairy-free milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven. Heat your oven to 375°F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease with nonstick spray.
2. Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger until well combined.
3. Mix wet ingredients. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, oil, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth.
4. Combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently until just combined. Do not overmix — a few streaks of flour are fine. The batter will be thick.
5. Fill the muffin tin. Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full.
6. Bake. Bake for 20–22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean and the tops are set and lightly golden.
7. Cool. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 185 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 29g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 180mg