Make these pumpkin maple muffins and catch all the fall feelings

These muffins get their deep color from pumpkin (or sweet potato) and turmeric and their sweetness from maple syrup. For a slightly sweeter* muffin, add 1 to 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Sour cream and chopped nuts add moisture and texture. If you feel like adding chocolate chips, coconut or golden raisins, fold them in along with or in place of the nuts. Substitute canned pumpkin puree (and not pumpkin pie filling, which is sweetened and spiced) with canned or homemade roasted sweet potato puree. To do so, roast one medium to large sweet potato pricked all over with a fork at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes. Let cool. Peel and mash the flesh until smooth and measure 1 cup to 1 1/3 cups for recipe below.

Pumpkin sour cream maple muffins

1 1/2 cups (195g) all-purpose flour

1/3 cup (40g) ground almond meal/flour or all-purpose/whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric or cardamom

1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree (NOT pie filling) or sweet potato puree — 1 to 1 1/3 cups

1/3 cup neutral vegetable oil such as avocado or grapeseed (or melted unsalted butter/melted coconut oil)

2 large eggs

1/3 cup maple syrup or honey* (see brown sugar note above)

1/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

Optional add-ins: 1/3 cup (35g) chopped walnuts

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard-size muffin tin with paper liners or grease thoroughly with cooking spray or softened butter.

2. Whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and turmeric together in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, maple syrup and sour cream (or yogurt). Stir in the dry ingredients and walnuts, if using, and mix just to combine. Divide batter evenly among muffin tins and bake until tops are puffed and a tester inserted in the center comes out mostly clean, 20 to 24 minutes. Let cool in liners a few minutes before removing liners, or they will stick to the muffin. Serve warm as is or with butter and maple syrup.

[Flip ripe bananas and pantry basics into this upside-down cake]

[Cod amandine: Looks fancy, sounds fancy — but it’s actually super easy and delicious]