Fall is diligently trying to make its arrival. The leaves are barely starting to turn, yellow and red splotches amongst acres of green. However, fall’s arrival is being slowed by our unseasonably warm weather. Perhaps Mother Nature is making up for Utah’s unusually cold and rainy June by warming us with temperatures in the mid to high 80s. That’s all well and good if you are not a lover of fall, do not dream of pulling on comfortable jeans and sitting down to a lunch of chicken corn chowder or baked pasta shells, or yearn to pull out cans of pumpkin and get down to some serious baking. So, I officially put myself into a stage of denial. On went the oven and in went the pumpkin as I planned for an afternoon break of hot Earl Grey tea and healthy, whole wheat muffins – sitting outside at my favorite table and looking at this view.
As I mentioned in my last post, I am working on being more mindful of the things I put in my mouth. That includes gargantuan muffins. I really wanted a snack that was full of whole grains, low on saturated and sugar and would keep me satisfied until dinnertime. Using our regular whole wheat muffin recipe, I increased the amount of plain Greek yogurt and unsweetened applesauce for moistness, replaced the sugar with agave nectar (you can use honey, too), increased the amount of spices for a pop of flavor and decreased the size of the muffins for a lower calorie snack (105 calories per muffin – okay, give me two). Toasted slivered almonds were thrown in for a little crunch and nuttiness.
These muffins freeze well when stored in a freezer safe container or resealable bag. When you’re ready to eat one, just pull it out of the freezer and let it sit on the counter to defrost or pop it into the microwave on a low setting.
Bring on fall!
The recipe:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.
In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, molasses, agave nectar (or honey), eggs, applesauce, and yogurt.
Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture. Mix until just combined. To avoid tough muffins, do not over mix. Add toasted almonds, and stir to combine.
Spray two muffin tins (about 20 muffin cups) with nonstick cooking spray. Fill each cups with 1/4 cup of the muffin batter. Of course, you can use muffin liners like the ones in these pictures. Though, truth be told, I had issues with the muffins sticking to these liners. Darn it!
Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in the tin on a rack for about 10 minutes. Remove the muffins from the tin and let the muffins cool on the rack.
Other pumpkin recipes:
Cookin’ Canuck’s Savory Pumpkin & Sage Gougères
Family Fresh Cooking’s Pumpkin Ricotta Stuffed French Toast
Love, Veggies & Yoga’s Pumpkin Spice Latte
Two Peas and Their Pod’s Pumpkin Granola
Eats Well with Others’ Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage & Toasted Hazelnuts
From the kitchen of Cookin Canuck. www.cookincanuck.com
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
- 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 2 tbsp agave nectar or honey
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/3 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
- 1 cup slivered almonds, toasted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.
- In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, molasses, honey, eggs, applesauce, and yogurt.
- Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture. Mix until just combined. To avoid tough muffins, do not over mix.
- Add toasted almonds, and stir to combine.
- Spray two muffin tins (about 20 muffin cups) with nonstick cooking spray. Fill each cups with 1/4 cup of the muffin batter.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool in the tin on a rack for about 10 minutes. Remove the muffins from the tin and let the muffins cool on the rack.
{ 31 comments… read them below or add one }
I could stand to watch what goes in my mouth a bit more too. Thanks, I’ll take five. Looks delish!
Thanks, Heidi. I know how you feel!
These look absolutely fabulous. I love whole wheat muffins, and all the spices and almonds just jazz it up so nicely against the pumpkin flavor.
Thank you, Tara. I really prefer eating whole wheat muffins as I feel I’m getting a healthy snack rather than a mini cake (though those are great for a little treat every now and then).
You got me hooked at ‘pumpkin’ and ‘toasted almonds’ – this sounds like an absolutely divine muffin. I definitely like the whole wheat in this recipe as well, it’s not only healthy but I believe it gives the muffin a better texture. Sometimes they’re just too crumbly!
Thank you! I prefer the texture of whole wheat muffins, too.
They sound lovely! And I love that you can freeze them until you’re ready to eat them. Mmm, perfect fall recipe.
Thanks, Tracy. We like to have a stack them in them in the freezer for quick snacks.
I am a Canuck also. Just found your great blog. I love your style.
I am new to blogging and love it.
Love the view, and the way you “heathified” these muffins.
That view is spectacular:)I have been more mindful too since this summer. I’ve altered my baking a little and it has been fun to experiment with recipes.
Love this healthy pumpkin muffin recipe.
I would be very happily aware of eating these muffins!
Yeah, this weather has really been throwing me off! I’m just hoping that we’ll have at least a few weeks of fall-like weather before the snow starts. These muffins look absolutely delicious. And I love that they are good for you, too!
These look so moist and full of flavor. Love how healthy they are even when having two at a time! And wow, the view is so beautiful!
These sound so healthy and scrumptious! Love them
What a perfect muffin for this time of the year just in time for a chilly fall season to warm us up with a smile thanks Dara!
Yay for fall and fall flavors! These muffins look fabulous and respectfully healthy. Thanks for thinking about our waistlines Dara.
Dara, such a beautiful, peaceful view at your favorite table! I’m being more mindful of food/ingredient choices too. The best part is, my kids are right in step with me. Thank you for sharing this solid recipe, and I love the baking cups too!
I love the sound of pumpkin muffins. And I’m not complaining at all about the warm fall weather.
I love these! I’m so tired of seeing these elaborate, weird, everything-pumpkin recipes all over the internet so it’s nice to see a simple, healthy spin on something so nice and seasonal. Love that there is Greek yogurt in here too!
The pumpkins sound great Dara, the wrappers are adorable too. BUT…that view? Now that might make everything taste even better!
Happy Fall…
Great view darlin’! But most of all I love those muffins. I am so excited about fall foods
I simply can’t stop grinning. xoxo
What delicious muffins. Dara. I need to be more like you and watch what I put into my body. I haven’t been that mindful of it lately!
You have a knack for making “healthy” look yummy! These look fabulous – and so autumn.
Hi Dara,
Well, you have definitely inspired me and made me “re think” what I was putting in mouth! (food blogging does have its downsides!). These muffins sound wonderful – low sugar, low fat, high fiber and … over the top taste! What else could we ask for?
These muffins do look great!! looking forward to waking up to one of these. Just wishing you could make me one, am such a lazy cook
love the photos, nice blog.
I love keeping muffins like these tucked away in my freezer! If only the weather would give a little here; the heat and humidity of this week would have you guessing it’s August.
Size is one of the reasons I make muffins myself – I always used to stop at my local bakery and pick up those gigantic muffins for breakfast, till I realized some of them had close to 500 calories apiece and were full of who knows what else. Eating a smaller one still leaves me satisfied without all that extra guilt. Cause who needs that?!
Oh my goodness these pumpkin muffins look AMAZING! I love all things pumpkin so I just adore this recipe. Love the addition of the toasted almonds!
Hi!! This recipe looks sooo yummy! And your view is to die for!! I am also trying to switch to using whole grains and less sugar. I’m about to go on a campin trip to the mountains and am looking for some recipes that I could make ahead of time and take with us. We won’t have a way to heat things up (not even a fire) so I was wondering if these muffins are as good cold as they are warm. Some muffins taste a bit odd to me if they aren’t warm. What are your thoughts?
Laura, I enjoyed these muffins cold just as much as when they were warm. The crunch of the almonds add something really special to these. I hope you enjoy them & have a great trip!
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