In a bowl, blend the sugar, shortening and eggs until you get a creamy mixture.

Add the canned pumpkin, mixing the entire thing until smooth.

In another bowl, mix all of your dry ingredients – the flour, the spices, baking powder & baking soda. Blend Well.

Take turns adding the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture alternating between the dry stuff and your buttermilk. Mix well in between each addition. Make sure that everything is mixed well, including all the batter that gets stuck to the sides of the bowl.

We make these in mini muffin pans, but you could totally do this in a large muffin pan. Grease your muffin tin thoroughly. We use shortening, but you could do this also with non-stick cooking spray. Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 of the way full.

Bake these little gems at 350 degrees for about 20-24 minutes.

Allow them to sit for about 2-5 minutes, and then remove and allow to cool for another 10-15 minutes on a cooling rack.

For the coating: Blend the sugar and pumpkin pie spice together in a bowl. Place the melted butter in another bowl next to it.

Dip each muffin into the butter for only a second or two, completely submerging it. Now roll the muffin into the Sugar & Spice mixture. Coat it really well, rolling it around so every inch is covered. Set aside and repeate with each muffin.

When complete, Serve.