These last couple of weeks have been a bit of an adjustment for our cat, Pixel. When we first got him, he was still young and pretty resilient, but I think as he has gotten older he’s become a bit more fussy and picky. Even though we moved very close to our last apartment, he was fairly traumatized and weirded out by the whole thing. Here’s the palatable version – pretty soon his system essentially stalled and we were desperate to figure out how to get things moving along again. After a failed visit to the veterinarian (don’t get me started), we relied on the internet for hints on what to do. One way to get a cat or dog to do its business? Feed it pureed pumpkin.

Now things are back to normal and I had quite a bit of leftover pumpkin, so I decided that I’d use it for less practical purposes and indulge in making some pumpkin muffins for breakfast.

Unfortunately, things don’t always go to plan (I did not fully read all of the instructions on the recipe, plus I’m still getting used to our oven), so my muffins didn’t exactly turn out right. Thankfully not all was lost, so I wound up with pumpkin bread instead.

Pumpkin Bread
For the original recipe that this is based on refer to theppk.com for their Pumpkin Muffins

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1 cup pureed pumpkin (fresh or from a can)
• 1/2 cup soymilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons molasses

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease muffin tin(s) and/or small cake or bread pan with vegetable shortening or vegan butter.

Sift together dry ingredients.

Quick note – I ran out of granulated sugar so without really thinking, I dropped in some turbinado sugar to be sifted as well. The grains are too large, so they would not sift.

Anyway, I just stirred them in later. :)

In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.

Pour wet into dry and combine.

If you are making muffins, fill the tins 2/3 of the way, then bake for about 15 minutes (you’ll need to check to make sure they don’t need more time).

If you make pumpkin bread, bake for 27-30 minutes in a baking pan, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Unfortunately, I was doing something else as I was making these and didn’t pay full attention to the original instructions which says to bake your muffins for less time if they are not going to be jumbo muffins. So I wound up with six very sorry and burned muffins. Sadly, they were beyond repair.

Thankfully I did use the rest of the batter in a larger pan and made pumpkin bread. The edges were only slightly singed, but otherwise it turned out pretty well.

Aside from being a bit overdone, these were very moist and chewy. I spread slices with vegan butter, but they didn’t really need it. It was nice, but they were so rich on their own that it was just probably unnecessary.

I definitely plan on making these again – just next time I’d better pay closer attention so I can make sure to not miss out on all of the chewy goodness. Also, I hope that next time I go out and buy pumpkin that it isn’t in a desperate attempt to fix the cat. :)