Pumpkin Spice Muffin

I've been doing some experimentation with pureed, canned pumpkin lately and ended up making muffins today - they turned out fantastic, and only 143 calories each (the equivalent of a granola bar).  The great part about these muffins that they come out moist without any need for oil, they cook fast, and you can add anything you want to them (cranberries, raisins, walnuts, pecans, banana, chocolate chips).

EDIT: Set oven to 350 and bake 30 minutes.

1.5 cups whole wheat or white flour

1.5 cups pureed pumpkin

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves (optional)

2 tbsp margarine or butter

1 egg

1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk mixed with 1 tsp lemon juice)

Sift dry ingredients well, stir in liquids, mix well.  Spoon into muffin pan, yields 12 servings at 143 calories each, 98% of your daily vitamin A, 8% iron, 4% calcium, and 3% vitamin C.

Urgh, double posted; sorry.

Sounds FAB! How long did you bake them for and at what temp?

I edited it; I set the oven to 350 and baked them for half an hour; if you want to make it into a bread rather than muffins, increase the time a little. :)

Hm, sounds great! Wonder if I could do without the butter/margerine? AND the buttermilk? Or is it such a small amount that the overall fat intake from the batch wouldn't be much? Just wondering, thanks!

I'm totally going to try these... been looking for a good granola bar alternative that I make myself!

yummy! I make some that are quite similar. I've been experimenting with not adding any oil/butter and it seemed to work with these and a few other recipes.   I don't have a huge sweet tooth so I don't add much sugar--my boyfriend drizzles maples syrup or honey or spreads jam on them for extra sweetness:

2 cups pureed pumpkin

2 eggs

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 c oats, soaked in boiling water for about 20 min

1/4 cup oats, dry

1 cup buttermilk (or milk mixed with lemon juice) OR 1 cup pureed silken tofu

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup toasted millet (optional)

1/4 pumpkin seeds (optional)

1 1/2 cups millet flour + 1/4 cup buckwheat flour (I don't use wheat flour but I think the original recipe I got these from called for whole wheat + all purpose white).

1 tsp cinnamon (or more to taste)

1/2 tsp ginger (or more to taste)

1/4 tsp nutmeg (or more to taste)

Sift dry ingredients together

In separate bowl blen pumpin, tofu/milk, eggs; then add sugar and blend until no lumps of sugar. Stir in soaked oats (drain excess water first).

Stir in dry ingredients--don't over mix. If it looks really runny add a bit more flour.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until tester inserted in centre comes out clean.

Makes about 30 small-ish muffins at 70 cals each (1.7 g fat, 1.6 g fibre, 2.7 g protein). If you use millet/buckwheat flour they may be a bit more dense than your typical muffins, but oh so delicious! The soaked oats keep them nice and moist.

Original Post by jahmela:

Hm, sounds great! Wonder if I could do without the butter/margerine? AND the buttermilk? Or is it such a small amount that the overall fat intake from the batch wouldn't be much? Just wondering, thanks!

You could definitely do without the margarine, maybe just add a little more of the pumpkin (since, if you buy a big can, you'll have extra anyways) as for the milk, I think it would be needed for the recipe; only 25 calories are from fat.  If you're alright with less sweetness, you could probably half the brown sugar without any problem.

im baked goods, other than cookies, i have found it helpful when i omit the oil to replace it with unsweetened applesauce.

Its moist enough that it does not change the texture in cakes, and muffins.

Looking at this recipe i could venture to guess that 1Tbsp of butter and 1/4C of milk would suffice if you added 1 of the snack sized cups of applesauce.

Just a suggestion. these sound really amazing though. I will definitely be giving them a try and playing with it a bit. Thanks!!!