Meatless Mondays - Pumpkin muffins, one more time

I've already done a couple of posts on pumpkin muffins, but my kids like them so much that I'm going to do one more with the latest incarnation of the recipe.

To recap, I don't like pumpkin. Shocking, no? I am nothing if not picky! So, I was a bit flabbergasted when my son came home from preschool last fall begging me to make pumpkin muffins. Seems they made them a couple of times in his preschool class, and he loved them. So, knowing how good pumpkin is for you (you can read about that in my original post), I decided I would give it a go for him. I found a recipe at Smitten Kitchen and modified it a bit, and then a bit more, and then more still. My final recipe really bares so little resemblance to the original recipe, which I'm sure was absolutely delicious as it was, that I'm calling it my own. But thanks to Smitten Kitchen for getting me started!

So, how do they taste? They're very moist, and the kids gobble them up. Although they have as much pumpkin as flour in them, they don't have a heavy pumpkin flavor. The flavor of the pumpkin pie spice (substitute cinnamon if you can't find pumpkin pie spice) is the dominant flavor. My kids, as I've said, love these. Even better, their friends love these. (My son told me that every time he brought my pumpkin muffins as his preschool snack, a friend of his who loved these muffins made a point to pick the muffin crumbs off the floor at clean up time...and eat them. I'm flattered, but ew!) There is just something about these muffins that makes them a kid magnet.

And they're great for adults too! I cook them as mini-muffins (portion control), but they'll do just as well as regular muffins, just increase the cooking time a bit. I can have a pan of muffins made in less than 30 min in the morning. Fast, easy, tasty, and good for you! Give these a try for breakfast or a snack sometime!


Pumpkin Muffins

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups packed pumpkin (from a 15-oz can - be careful not to get a can of pumpkin pie filling!)
1/3 cup olive oil
2 large eggs
2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line mini-muffin pan with muffin cups.

Mix together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin-pie spice, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth. Mix together flour and baking powder and add to the pumpkin mixture. Mix until just combined.

Add batter to each muffin cup so that each cup is about 3/4 full. Bake until puffed and golden brown and a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean, about 18-20 min. Makes about 3 dozen.

If you don't have white whole wheat flour on hand, you can use regular whole wheat flour for a final product with a slightly wheatier taste or change the flour proportions to 3/4 cup all-purpose flour and 3/4 cup regular whole wheat flour.