Good Bad & The Monkey
I'm running somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be beautiful. I can't wait.
Poor baby
Life Goal- Stay Cancer Free, Live my Best Life
" Choose Joy, Today and ALWAYS"
Pumpkin Muffins
2 1/2C Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
2tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
2 1/2 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1C Pumpkin Puree
2T Vegetable Oil or Canola Oil
2 Eggs
1TBSP Vanilla
2/3 Cup Buttermilk
3/4 Cup Succanat Or Brown Sugar or HONEY
1C Chopped Walnuts
1C dried Cranberries
Mix Dry Ingredients together and set aside. Combine the Pumpkin, Oil, Eggs, Vanilla, Sugar, buttermilk with a whisk. Fold Wet Ingredients into Dry Ingredients, and combine thoroughly. gently fold in cranberries and walnuts. Evenly distribute batter into a greased muffin pan, and Bake in a preheated 375 degree Oven for approximately 20-25 minutes, or unitl a toothpick comes out clean when tested. Makes 12 muffins.
" Cheffy's Tweaks and Notes"
I am always in search of a GREAT, Whole Grain Healthy muffin that is not so dense that I feel bloated after eating it. This one fits the bill. Because of the buttermilk, these come out absolutely light and fluffy. The addition of dried cranberries is a perfect touch.
Whole Wheat Pastry Flour: I like this so much better than straight up WW flour, the texture is lighter and less dense.
Succanat: is a natural pure cane non processed sugar that is available at most all health food stores. It looks like brown sugar, and has a tea like fragrance. I have found that the ratio is about the same as using brown sugar, except the succanat tends to be less sweet, which I like. If you are using honey, your wet ingredients will take longer to blend to make sure that the honey gets loose enough to mix with everything. also make sure it is the best quality that you can afford, preferably one that is raw. The key is to keep them free of processed and refined sugars.
Buttermilk: I use the Pet Brand FAT FREE that you can find at Wal-Mart here in the south. Feel free to use low fat or regular, depending on how healthy you want to make these.
These are great all by themselves, or with a little butter on them. They are a great source of whole grain slow digesting carbs, great for running fuel. You also get a boost of protein from both the eggs and buttermilk, and walnuts are very healthy fats.
and they are TASTY!
Buttermilk: I either replace buttermilk in recipes with my home made yogurt OR use the liquid leftover from when I take my own cultured cream (= creme fraiche) and turn it into butter (i.e., the REAL butter milk).
Fixed.
Great Points! Yes, I use FF Greek Yogurt alot in place of buttermilk. Sometimes I have to thin it a bit, but it works great. We made cornbread the other night with the buttermilk, so with the leftovers from that, I made my muffins.
Turbinado: YES. I have that as well, and use it from time to time. Because I write/edit and test numerous recipes for a living, I get these weird ingredients like Succanat sent to me, and often try to invent things to do with them. I am not a fan at all of " sicky Sweet" stuff, and strive to find the most natural stuff to put in my food, and I actually like this product alot....
Have not tried this recipe yet with the yogurt, but I would bet that they would be equally as good, as the acidity level is very similar with the two products.
I also make my own pumpkin Pie spices, very similar to your mixture Trent..... the pre-made versions are usually too clovey, and not enough cinnamon for my taste......
The ginger and the citrus peel are the best in the spice mix.
+1 on the Ginger...... One of my favorites in any spice blend. I have a recipe for Glorious Morning Muffins that I add citrus and ginger to, that is wonderful. I love how good they make the house smell!
On the up side of things, You would be proud of this Chef for at least making her own pumpkin Puree! lol...... processed a few sugar pumpkins for this..... nothing like the real thing!
What's a sugar pumpkin?
Good job!!
I often find them labeled " Sugar Pumpkins" or " Pie Pumpkins" at the Farmers market's here..... I thought it was funny too...... Could be just a farmer's name for them. They are just the tiny guys that have really nice sweet flesh, probably where the name sugar pumpkins come from......
????
I joke because all pumpkins that have that same orange color as jack o lantern and pie pumpkins have substantially less flavor, thinner flesh and more water in the flesh than the heirloom varieties. These days you can find the heirloom varieties just about anywhere. If not, use butternut squash. I only ever use the modern orange pumpkins when I have leftover jack o lanterns that I don't want to throw out.
My house is always full of these, and they last for up to 12 months.
This is what is currently in my kitchen, entirely from my CSA over the past few weeks. As I mentioned elsewhere, I have already cooked down some 40-50 lbs of winter squash and heirloom pumpkin that I purchased at a farm.
My tweaks, in the oven right now
2 1/2 Cup White Lilly & AP Flour, mixed 2 tsp Baking Powder 1 tsp Baking Soda 1/2 tsp Salt 2 1/2 tsp my home made Pumpkin Pie Spice 1 1/2 Cup Pumpkin Puree 2 T Vegetable Oil 2 Eggs 1 1/2 T Vanilla 1/2 Cup Yogurt 1/2 Cup Whole Milk 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar chopped semisweet chocolate