Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice

Forget changing leaves. Forget dropping temperatures. The official mark of the arrival of fall is the arrival of the Pumpkin Spice coffee and Pumpkin muffin at Dunkin Donuts. Now I admit that eating a pumpkin muffin is like birthday cake for breakfast, but I'm all for it. At 600 calories and 26 grams of fat, it is certainly a splurge. It's also the size of my head. In order to enjoy my favorite fall treat more often without feeling even a twinge of guilt, I make my own. I even brew my own Pumpkin Spice coffee, but only because finding a Dunkin' drive thru in northern Jersey is like finding the Loch Ness monster. These muffins are super moist and amazing, but don't get me wrong, these muffins aren't healthy. They are just smaller. So they are healthier, right?

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Ingredients:

4 large eggs

1 1/3 c. sugar

15 oz. pumpkin puree

1 c. vegetable oil

2 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. butter, cold

1/4 c. all purpose flour

1/4 cup Maple Brown Butter Icing

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line the cups of 2 muffin tins with paper liners.

In a large bowl, beat eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin until smooth, add 2 cups flour, cinnamon, nutmeg,salt, soda, and powder and beat until smooth. Pour into prepared tins. In a medium bowl, crumble walnuts, brown sugar, 1/4 c. flour with a fork until combined. Sprinkle evenly over muffins. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on wire racks. Drizzle with icing.