Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
- 190g (1 cup) pumpkin puree*
- 150g (1.5 cups) wholemeal/spelt flour*
- 80ml (1/3 cup) vegetable oil OR 1 tbsp (15ml) oil plus 60g (1/3 cup) sugar free apple puree**
- 170g or 250ml (1 cup) of sugar, xylitol OR Sukrin***
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Optional: 75g (3/4 cup) dried cranberry seeds plus pumpkin seeds for decorating
- Frosting: 100g extra light cream cheese and 10 dates plus hot water****
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 175 degrees C
- Whisk together your pumpkin, baking soda, salt, spices, sugar or xylitol, eggs, oil & apple puree if using
- Then add in your flour and baking powder gradually
- Add in your dried cranberries (if using) and divide between 12 muffin cases
- Sprinkle your muffins with pumpkin seeds (or leave plain if using the frosting) & bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until cooked
- Allow to cool
- FROSTING: Make date puree by blending dates and hot water to make a paste before mixing it into the extra light cream cheese. Add to your pumpkin muffins, allow to set and enjoy!
Notes
*You can get canned pumpkin and spelt flour from Amazon . To make a protein muffin use 120g spelt flour & 25g whey protein – if you use the protein powder you may need to reduce the baking time of this recipe by 5 minutes.
**I use the apple puree from the baby aisle!
***I used Sukrin Gold (a calorie free alternative to brown sugar)
****An alternative to the frosting is to use sugar-free icing sugar – I used Sukrin!
ROASTED PUMPKIN PUREE - To make your own pumpkin puree simply ¼ your pumpkin and lay the sections faced down in a baking tray with a little water. Bake at 175 degrees C or 350F for 45 minutes then scoop out the insides and blend.
ROASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS - Simply wash and dry the seeds then bake at 190 degrees C for 30-40 minutes shaking occasionally (add olive oil/salt if needed).
Recipe by Nics Nutrition at https://nicsnutrition.com/healthy-pumpkin-muffin-recipe/