Pumpkin Oat Muffins

Warm days and cool evenings….I love fall! It is a season of routine and balance, it is a season of soups and stews, and t is a season that inspires eating and cooking with apples and pumpkins…lots of apples of pumpkins!!!  I will be sharing some of my favourite fall dishes over the coming few months.

Today I wanted to share one of my favourite pumpkin recipes. Pumpkin is full of vitamins, minerals, fibre, and antioxidants. I developed this recipe a few years ago, but made a few adjustments/new options to it for this fall. It is one of my children’s favourite muffins. I hope you and your family enjoys it too!

Ingredients:

1 cup All Purpose Flour

1 cup Whole wheat flour

3/4 cup Rolled oats

½ cup Baby Brain Organics (or oatbran)

1 cup 1% Buttermilk (or other milk of choice…I use coconut milk)

2 eggs (or 4 egg whites)

3 cups (750 mL) pureed pumpkin (from the can or from freshly baked pumpkin

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup honey or maple syrup

2 Tbsp. canola oil

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

Optional: ½ cup crushed walnuts or pecans

Optional: ½ cup raisins or dried apples or dried cranberries

Instructions:

1. Combine all dry ingredients and make a well in the centre.
2. Combine all wet ingredients (this can be done in a blender or by hand) and pour into dry ingredients. Add nuts and/or dried fruit as desired.
3. Mix together until moistened. Do not over mix.
4. Spoon batter into non-stick muffin pan. (Makes 18-24 medium muffins or about 48 mini muffins)
5. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean).

Additional notes:

1. One of my sons has an allergy to oats. When I am making these for him, I leave the oats out and add an extra 1/2 cup whole wheat flour. If you have anyone in your family that cannot have oats, you could try this too.
2. For this recipe to be dairy free, you can use a milk alternative such as soy, almond or coconut and you can use 4 Tbsp. ground flax seed mixed with 2 Tbsp. water (let stand for 5-10 minutes to gel) to replace the eggs.

Until next time….stay healthy!