Spicy Pumpkin Muffins
Recipe Redux – October, 2012: “Orange you Glad it’s Fall?”
With the approach of each new fall season, one food I really look forward to its reappearance is pumpkin. It’s one of my favorite fat replacers in baking, but until fall comes around, I am stuck with using pumpkin from a can. This month’s Recipe Redux challenge was to share a favorite dish featuring any orange-colored seasonal produce, and of course pumpkin was the first food to come to mind.
Like other orange vegetables, pumpkin is loaded with healthy carotenoid antioxidants in every bite. For this recipe, as well as any other that utilizes pumpkin, I recommend that if you can get the fresh produce version, use it instead of canned. It is not too complicated to cut up the pumpkin, remove seeds, and then roast before mashing. With all the great flavor, you will be thankful for your delicious efforts!
INGREDIENTS
2/3 cup Millet flour
2/3 cup Buckwheat flour
2/3 cup Tapioca flour
4 teaspoons Baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking soda
1/8 teaspoon Xanthan Gum
2 tablespoons Pumpkin spice
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Pumpkin, cooked, mashed
1/2 cup Apple sauce
1/4 cup Molasses
1/4 cup Greek yogurt, fat-free
2 large Eggs
1/3 cup Brown sugar
2 tablespoons Olive oil
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1/3 cup Raisins
1/3 cup Cranberries, dried
PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, add the millet, buckwheat and tapioca flours along with the baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Stir to combine.
In a medium mixing bowl, add the mashed pumpkin, apple sauce, molasses, yogurt, eggs, vanilla and olive oil. Whisk wet ingredients to combine.
Pour wet ingredients into the dry. Fold with a rubber spatula to combine.
Lightly spray small muffin pan with olive oil spray. Scoop the batter into the muffin pan. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the muffins spring back to the touch. (Don’t use the toothpick test, or you will overcook them.)
Place muffins on a cooling rack, and completely cool before eating.
Makes 24 small muffins.