Ingredients:
- Pumpkin puree - 200 g (about 1 small pumpkin)
- Wheat flour - 200 g
- Sugar - 150 g (can be reduced to taste)
- Vegetable oil — 100 ml
- Eggs - 2 pcs.
- Rospushuvach - 1 tsp.
- Soda - 0,5 tsp.
- Cinnamon - 1 tsp.
- Nutmeg — 0,5 tsp.
- A pinch of salt
- Vanilla sugar — 1 tsp.
- Orange or lemon peel - 1 tsp. (optional)
- Raisins or nuts - 50 g (optional)
Preparation:
First you need to prepare pumpkin puree. To do this, clean the pumpkin from the skin and seeds, cut it into cubes and boil it in a small amount of water or bake it in the oven until soft. After the pumpkin becomes soft, drain the excess liquid and grind the pumpkin in a blender or with a pestle to the consistency of puree.
In a deep container, combine all the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla sugar and a pinch of salt. If desired, you can add other favorite spices, for example, ginger or cloves, for an even brighter aroma. If you plan to add nuts or raisins, they can also be mixed with flour so that they are evenly distributed throughout the dough.
In another bowl, beat the eggs with sugar until a lush mass is formed. Add vegetable oil and mix well again. After that, add pumpkin puree and grated orange or lemon zest, if using, to the mixture. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly to a homogeneous mass.
Slowly introduce the dry mixture into the liquid, carefully stirring the dough with a spatula or a whisk. The dough should be of medium thickness - it should easily slide off the spatula, but not be too thin.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Prepare muffin tins: grease them with oil or use paper liners. Divide the dough among the molds, filling each 2/3.
Bake the pumpkin muffins for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown. You can check the readiness with a toothpick: if it comes out dry after piercing the cake, then the pastry is ready. If desired, cupcakes can be sprinkled with powdered sugar or decorated with icing.