Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens

One of favorite things when the dog bites and the bee stings is pumpkin. I eagerly anticipate the approach of fall when pumpkin can be found everywhere. I love it in all forms - I love carving pumpkins, I love pumpkin ice creams, pumpkin flavored drinks, and most importantly I love pumpkin foods.

This morning when Jon woke up he requested eggs and bacon. As I've mentioned before, breakfast meats do not make it onto my favorites list, so instead of throwing a couple extra slabs up there, I decided it was time to start the pumpkin baking!

There are no shortage of pumpkin recipes on my cooking board, so it was the first place I turned. Kayte had said there were some pumpkin muffins in her blog, and trusting Kayte I headed right there. I took some short detours from her recipe, cutting it in half and omitting the chocolate chips (no big surprise there for those of you that know me). They came out perfectly! Except for two which separated their tops from their bottoms when I tried to remove them - now they're perfect for either a parfait or pumpkin crusted something - stay tuned for which I decide).

Fresh from the oven with some butter melting on their warmness, these are the perfect fall breakfast!

Pumpkin muffins (adapted from Kayte's Kitchen)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoons ground cloves
• 3/4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 8 oz solid pack pumpkin
  

Directions

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs; mix well. Combine dry ingredients; stir into creamed mixture just until moistened. Stir in pumpkin. Pour batter into muffin pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until muffins spring back to touch or toothpick inserted comes out clean.