Mini Pumpkin Donut Muffins

Halloween 2029. Chloe: Vivian Maier — the reclusive street photographer, discovered posthumously, the woman who photographed everything and showed no one. Chloe wore a trench coat and carried a Rolleiflex camera replica (made of cardboard, painted by Jayden). When people asked who she was, she said: "A woman who photographed the world and kept it all for herself." And then she didn't show them her own photos. She PERFORMED the character. The girl is: a performance artist disguised as a food photographer.

Jayden: NFD running shirt, again. "Wearing what I am." Year two of: the identity, not the costume. He stood at the counter and handed out candy with the quiet authority of a fourteen-year-old who knows who he is. The knowing is: the gift of the last three years. The knowing was: bought with therapy and poetry and push-ups on a fire station floor and 13.1 miles through Nashville. The knowing is: Jayden.

Elijah as Jupiter: MAGNIFICENT. Lorraine built a sphere that was FOUR FEET in diameter. Padded, painted in swirls of orange and white and tan (the Great Red Spot rendered in fabric paint — Lorraine referenced NASA images, the woman is a COSTUME RESEARCHER now). Elijah could not fit through the restaurant door. We removed the front door temporarily. Elijah entered Sarah's Table through a DOORLESS doorway because his costume was too large for human architecture. The moment was: the peak of Elijah's costume career. The peak of Lorraine's sewing career. The peak of: orange.

At the restaurant: black cornbread Year 5. The half-decade mark. The black cornbread is now: an institution. An annual event. A thing people PUT ON THEIR CALENDARS. The calendar event is: the validation that a joke can become a tradition and a tradition can become: a revenue stream. Eighty-one portions on Halloween day. The most ever.

Candy sorting. Chili. The traditions. The things that don't change while Jupiter bounces through the apartment and a firefighter reads in the corner and a photographer reviews her photos in black and white. The traditions are: the gravity that keeps the planets in orbit. The chili is: the sun. The sun that everything revolves around. The sun that is: the table. The table that is: always set. Even on Halloween. Even when Jupiter can't fit through the door. Amen.

The chili is always the sun — we know this — but every sun needs a little sweetness orbiting it, and this year I wanted something that felt like Halloween in your hand: warm, spiced, small enough that a fourteen-year-old handing out candy could grab one without thinking and a photographer in a trench coat could eat one without breaking character. Mini Pumpkin Donut Muffins have been waiting in the wings of this night for a while now, and Year 5 of the black cornbread felt like exactly the right moment to make them official. Elijah got his doorless entrance; these got their place on the table.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 27 min | Servings: 24 mini muffins

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (for topping)
1/3 cup granulated sugar (for topping)

Instructions

Preheat — Prep. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 24-cup mini muffin tin with nonstick spray and set aside.
Combine dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves until evenly blended.
Mix wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla extract, and buttermilk until smooth and well combined.
Fold together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold gently with a rubber spatula until just combined — do not overmix; a few streaks of flour are fine.
Fill and bake. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake for 10–12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops spring back lightly when touched.
Prepare the cinnamon-sugar topping. While the muffins bake, stir together the remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon with the 1/3 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl. Melt the butter in a separate small bowl.
Coat the muffins. Remove the muffins from the oven and let cool in the pan for 3 minutes. Working quickly, brush each warm muffin top with melted butter, then roll or dip the top in the cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat. Serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Mini Pumpkin Donut Muffins — The Sweet Side of the Night the Planet Couldn't Fit Through the Door