Pumpkin muffins with(out) candied pepitas

After waking up at 4 and being unable to fall back asleep, and then discovering that my brioche dough needed 6 hours in the fridge before I could use it, I needed something else to make for breakfast.  I settled on this intriguing pumpkin muffin recipe, despite not having any pumpkin seeds to candy and sprinkle on top.

The recipe made way more than the 12 muffins claimed: and, yes, I filled the dough to the top.  And what muffins they were.  Another hit from the Flour cookbook.  They were amazingly moist on the inside, and the top was downright chewy.  I guess this is what two sticks of butter and four eggs does to your muffins.  When I spread a little bit of butter on a warm one, it was actually too rich… I preferred them butterless when they were straight out of the oven.  They were delicious with cream cheese when cold.

I’d definitely, definitely make these again.

Between the brioche dough, these, and the scrambled eggs I made for the kids, I had used 14 eggs by 7am this morning.  Yikes.  The brioche dough is in the freezer waiting for Christmas Eve breakfast.

Pumpkin muffins with candied pepitas, from Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe, by Joanne Chang.  Pg 56