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.
ValleyWriter
These look awesome! Go Mr. Canuck! 😀
Cookin' Canuck
Fresh Local & Angie - Thank you!
Jenn -The blueberries add great flavor and texture, and I love the crunch of the pecans.
Mary - The chocolate brownies sound pretty good!
Divina - Yes, these muffins are packed with fiber and goodness!
Christine - I was very proud of my husband for setting a personal record in that marathon. He works hard at it!
Maria - These would be just as good without the pecans.
Kalyn - If you lived in this house, you would definitely be inspired to run, but walking is so much easier on the joints!
Kalyn
Yes, I should be out there running right now so I can eat more of these muffins! Okay, that was a joke (I'll stick to walking!) But the muffins do sound fantastic and very healthy!
Maria
These are my kind of muffins. I will just leave out the pecans so Josh can eat them with me:)
Christine
Wow, your husband finished his last marathon in 2 hours 43 minutes. He must be a very healthy guy as you cook him good meals daily.
These muffins are really good to energize your husband. Both blueberries and pecans are goodies in muffins.
Divina Pe
Wow, just look at the ingredients in that muffin. Pure goodness. It's just the blueberries that are missing. Love blueberries a lot. I think I should ran also ran 60 miles per week. 🙂
MaryMoh
I must get my hubby to read this to inpire him to learn more baking... LOL. He has only bake one....choc brownies. Your muffins looks so good....so full of wholesome goodness.
Jenn
Hello breakfast. I love muffin. Those muffins looks really good. I like pecans and blueberries, too. Nice job my the hubby. ;-D
Angie's Recipes
What a scrumptious recipe! The muffins look just wonderful!
Fresh Local and Best
These muffins look so delicious, especially with all those yummy spices!