Bake up a batch of these whole wheat pumpkin muffins to welcome autumn! Fantastic with a cup of tea or coffee, at breakfast or as an afternoon snack.
Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins
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 ¼ 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
Two Peas and Their Pod's Pumpkin Granola
Eats Well with Others' Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage & Toasted Hazelnuts
Printable Recipe
Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins with Toasted Almonds
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 1 15 ounce can pumpkin
- ¼ cup molasses
- 2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
- â…“ 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 ¼ 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.
Nutrition
Disclosure: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Donna
You have a knack for making "healthy" look yummy! These look fabulous - and so autumn.
Kristen
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!
Tickled Red
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
Barbara | Creative Culinary
The pumpkins sound great Dara, the wrappers are adorable too. BUT...that view? Now that might make everything taste even better!
Happy Fall...
Maris (In Good Taste)
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!
KalynsKitchen
I love the sound of pumpkin muffins. And I'm not complaining at all about the warm fall weather.
Brooks at Cakewalker
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!
Sommer@ASpicyPerspective
Yay for fall and fall flavors! These muffins look fabulous and respectfully healthy. Thanks for thinking about our waistlines Dara. 😉
claudia lamascolo
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!
Katrina
These sound so healthy and scrumptious! Love them 🙂