These have been on my to-try list for months. I’m so glad I finally made them! They taste far too delicious to be as healthy as they are, too. And the timing is good, I’m back on Weight Watchers and these puppies are only ONE P+ each. And they are treats you can have for breakfast. Win-win.
Also, as a nice bonus, the recipe comes from a blog called Adventures of the Yankee Kitchen Ninja. The author says, and I quote from her blog,
I went through a bit of experimenting with this muffin recipe to find the perfect balance of taste, texture and nutrition.
She definitely found it. These remind me of the Carrot Spice Muffins and the Carrot Bran Muffins I like to make, you feel like you’re eating dessert while you’re gobbling down something that’s actually good for you.
I started with whole wheat pastry flour, which I love using. It makes everything lighter. To that I added 2 1/2 tablespoons flax seed (she said between 2-3, I took her literally), baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice (a very generous 2 teaspoons). I whisked.
Yellow bowl was set aside, orange bowl was procured. I whisked three eggs in it.
To that I added pumpkin, brown sugar, half a cup of maple syrup, vanilla, applesauce (I had precisely the quarter cup I needed left in the jar), and low fat Greek yogurt. I didn’t have non-fat, but I figured that wouldn’t make much of a difference taste or nutrition-wise. It all looked pretty revolting at first.
Once mixed, it looked a lot less freaky. I poured it into a well in the middle of the dry ingredients.
I folded it all together, just until incorporated. There was a lot of batter in that bowl.
I finally got to use my mini muffin cups! I was happy about that. Cleaning out a mini muffin tin is not a whole lot of fun, plus I got these for my birthday and have been wanting to try them out.
I baked for 8 minutes, checked them, and baked a little longer, it was probably somewhere in the 10-12 minute range when they were ready. I hustled them out of the pan and onto a rack so I could get the second batch into the oven.
These are delicious. They really come into their own the next day, when you can taste the maple and the pumpkin together in perfect balance, and the pumpkin pie spice. Next time I’m going to add some more cinnamon and maybe a touch of something else that’s also in pumpkin pie spice, not quite sure yet. The texture is fluffy without being too airy, and my co-workers happily gobbled them up, as did I. I’m having some with my lunch right now.
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