My husband has commandeered the muffin tins. Except for the occasional batch of birthday cupcakes, I can't pry them out of his hands. He has become addicted to his mid-morning whole wheat muffin break and has taken it upon himself to devise a variety of recipes to fill his fix. It all started with his Strawberry Energy Muffins Recipe, which were moist little specimens of muffin goodness. When one runs 60 miles per week (I'm not talking about myself here), it is necessary to find a way to replenish all of those burned calories. Considering that he ran his last marathon in (bragging alert) 2 hours 43 minutes, I have decided that he can do whatever the heck he wants with those muffin tins and I am more than happy to relinquish control.
As soon as the cans of pumpkin began to appear on the shelves, he started searching for whole wheat pumpkin muffin recipes. He found a promising recipe by Roni of Green Lite Bites and made several modifications, including the addition of blueberries and pecans, to suit his palate. The result was a moist, dense, spiced muffin that could easily stand in as a light lunch.
The recipe:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon ground cloves,
½ teaspoon ground allspice (grind allspice berries in spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle), and 1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg.
In a large bowl, combine one (15 ounces) can pumpkin, ¼ cup molasses, 2 tablespoons honey,
2 eggs,
½ cup unsweetened applesauce, and ¼ cup low-fat (1%) plain yogurt. Beat well.
Add the flour mixture and ¾ cup wheat bran to the pumpkin mixture. Mix until just combined. To avoid tough muffins, do not over mix.
Add 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries and 1 cup pecans, and stir to combine.
Spray one muffin tin (12 muffin cups) with nonstick cooking spray. Fill the cups with the muffin batter and top each muffin with a light sprinkling of oats.
Bake for about 20 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.
Printable Recipe
Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bran Muffins with Blueberries & Pecans Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice ground in a spice grinder or with a mortar & pestle
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 1 15 ounce can pumpkin
- ¼ cup molasses
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ¼ cup low-fat 1% plain yogurt
- ¾ cup wheat bran
- 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1 cup pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, ground cloves, ground allspice, and nutmeg.
- In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, molasses, honey, eggs, applesauce, and yogurt. Add the flour mixture and wheat bran to the pumpkin mixture. Mix until just combined. To avoid tough muffins, do not over mix. Add blueberries and pecans, and stir to combine.
- Spray one muffin tin (12 muffin cups) with nonstick cooking spray. Fill the cups with the muffin batter and top each muffin with a light sprinkling of oats.
- Bake for about 20 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.
Laurie
I just made these. They are AMAZING! I didn't put in the nuts and blueberries. I don't tend to like nuts in baked goods (except brownies) and didn't have any blueberries. Two other slight changes...used non fat yogurt instead of the 1% (that's what I had on hand) and used egg beaters instead of eggs. I don't generally swap out ingredients the first time making a recipe, but I figured these were minor changes. Whole-heartedly recommend this recipe. (I know it was posted a number of years ago), but hope this bumps it to the top of a list to get it some attention.
Marlynn
These look great. Can't wait to try them. Makes me homesick for Canada, as I am living in the USA. Thanks for some Canadian goodness!!
The Foodie Forkful
Oooh, those sound really good. I think I'm gonna have to make some.
No-Frills Recipes
Very delicious muffins, I like blueberries, fresh ones are very expensive in this part of the world.
penny aka jeroxie
My hubby actually makes the best butter cake! So good job to yours too!
My Little Space
Honey, your hubby should thank you for that! You fed him well. haha.... These muffins are soooo delicious. I love oats in it!
Chef Fresco
These look very healthy and tasty!
Tasty Trix
I really love your photos of the ingredients - beautiful!
Diana Bauman
Dara, wow, your husband is fast!! I can't believe his marathon time, that's incredible! These muffins look awesome. I've been wanting to do more baking with applesauce but haven't figured it out yet, lol!