Nanny's Pumpkin Muffins

4 Eggs

2 cups Sugar

1 1/2 cups Vegetable Oil

1 3/4 cups Canned Pumpkin Puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

3 cups All-Purpose Flour

1 Tbsp Cinammon

2 tsp Baking Soda

2 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Salt

2 cups raisins (optional)

Brown Sugar (small amount)

1.  Whisk Eggs together until just combined, add Sugar, Oil and Pumpkin and mix thoroughly.

2.  Sift dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and add to wet ingredients.  Mix until just combined.

3.  Add raisins (optional)  Also could also add nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds or nothing at all.

4.  Fill muffin cups 3/4 full and sprinkle tops with Brown Sugar.  I also sprinkle with a bit of ground Flax seeds or Wheat Germ as well.  I also use a mini muffin tin...great for school lunches.

5. Bake at preheated 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

This recipe yields about 3 dozen muffins...which is a lot.  So, you can bake them all off at once and freeze them but what I prefer to do is freeze the muffin batter itself because, who doesn't prefer fresh baked muffins??

Here's how I do it and it works every time!

Lay plastic wrap over top of an empty muffin tin and portion muffin mix into tray as you would if you were baking them.

Cover entire tray with plastic Wrap and pop it in the freezer.

Freeze for at least 12 hours...they will not freeze completely but it will be enough to remove from the plastic wrap.

Place frozen muffin "pucks" into a freezer bag.  

When you're ready, pop the frozen muffin puck into paper lined muffin pans and bake as directed.  They might take an extra 5+ minutes so keep an eye on them.  

This is a great way to have fresh baked muffin anytime you need them.  They should keep for a few months this way but I've never had them in the freezer that long.

This also works for cookie dough.  I make a double batch of cookie dough and bake a dozen or so cookies then I portion the rest on a baking sheet and pop the whole baking sheet into the freezer until the dough is frozen.  That way, you can just bake off a few or a few dozen cookies without all the dirty dishes!!