Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins

One of my New Year's resolutions was to only bake sweets once a week, but who am I kidding.  I love to bake, I love sweets, I cannot change who I am.  So I decided to try and adapt some of my favourite recipes to be a little healthier. 

I made Tartine's pumpkin tea cake into cupcakes for our holiday party, and they were delicious, so I figured why not healthy them up a bit and make them into muffins.  Since I'm not a baker by trade I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to making up my own recipes so I go for the easy substitutions and additions: I used white whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose, cut out some of the sugar, and added one cup of walnuts.  I wouldn't say they're necessarily healthy since they have quite a bit of oil and sugar in them still.

They turned out really tasty, very moist and spicy, with a nice crunchy top.  I actually tried some out in my whoopie pie pan to make muffin tops but the baby had nap issues halfway through baking so I had to take them out and put them back in later.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins
adapted from Tartine's Pumpkin Tea Cake

Ingredients:
1 2/3 cup of white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons of nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
1 cup and 2 tablespoons of pumpkin puree
1 cup of vegetable oil (sunflower, canola or safflower)
1 cup of sugar
3/4 teaspoon of salt
3 eggs
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons of sugar


Preheat the oven to 325°F.  Line muffin pan with muffins tins or grease
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves into a mixing bowl and set aside.

In another mixing bowl, beat together the pumpkin purée, oil, sugar, and salt on medium speed or by hand until well mixed. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition until incorporated before adding the next egg. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. On low speed, add the flour mixture and beat just until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat on medium speed for 5 to 10 seconds to make a smooth batter.  Stir in walnuts.

Divide into muffin tins, filling about 3/4 full.  Sprinkle each muffin evenly with the sugar. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 22 minutes.  Let cool in the pan on a wire rack.

Linked to: Seasonal Sunday



Muffin on FoodistaMuffin

7 comments:

  1. They look delicious, I could never bake sweet stuff once a week! Even if I don't count bakery work it'd still be impossible, I try to limit myself to one or two of something and then give the rest away. My neighbors love me but think hubby would be happy never to see another cupcake again. x

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  2. Haha, thanks! I'm sure this is one resolution that won't last long

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  3. I might have to try these too, i would cut down half the fat and half the sugar by adding frozen apple juice concentrate...key word is "try"...i used to bake that way but might have forgotten how!

    I miss your baking!!!!!

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  4. Hmmm, apple juice concentrate?? Let me know how they turn out

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  5. going to make these later today. I love using www flour in muffin recipes... sophie loves mini muffins so I'm always looking for new recipes. might try a bit of brown sugar.

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  7. I'd love to give this a try.It looks wonderful.I came across your site from the foodieblogroll and I'd love to guide Foodista readers to your site. I hope you could add this muffin widget at the end of this post so we could add you in our list of food bloggers who blogged about muffins,Thanks!

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