Lately I've been craving muffins.  And since I'm trying to clear out our freezer for Thanksgiving (we host every year) and we have alot of frozen pumpkin puree I made in our freezer, of course I thought of pumpkin muffins.


I'm also trying to drop a few pounds before winter and the Holidays come so of course I had to make healthy ones!  Don't worry they still taste great.  While this does have some sugar and fat, it doesn't have much and it's rich in fiber and protein.


I used stevia to help keep it's sweetness, but balanced it with real sugar because my husband is not a fan of stevia, but is usually fine with it if enough real sugar is in it.   So if your making these for a pot luck or for someone not use to stevia, these should still be fine.  I lowered the sugar amount to only 1/4 cup or 50 grams, so each muffin has about 5 grams of sugar (including the naturally occurring sugar in pumpkin).

It does have some fat, but not much and is still really moist.  And the fat it does has is healthy coconut fat that your body and brain loves.  Fat isn't all bad since it's better for your body to use it as fuel than carbs.


The fiber (from the pumpkin and the oat bran) and protein (from the flour eggs and protein powder) help keep you full so your less likely to eat to many muffins and more likely to be full during the day.  So while this might not be the perfect health food, it's much better than sugary cereal for breakfast.  It makes a great snack too!  I didn't add chocolate chips to mine but it could be a nice addition. 

image via Makeup and Beauty Blog

image via Makeup and Beauty Blog

I've been enjoying mine lately with Trader Joe's Harvest Blend Herbal tea.  It's spiced like a chai tea but with a hibiscus (herbal base) rather than a black tea or rooibios, with added notes of ginger and apple.  Next to Good Earth's sweet and spicy tea this my favourite tea.  Good Earth is also a great restaurant here with some of the best desserts  I've ever had.  Pumpkin flavoured coffee would be a nice compliment to these muffins too!


Healthy Pumpkin Muffins 
Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 cup unbleached flour 
• 3/4 cup oat bran
• 1/3 cup stevia in the raw
• 1/4 cup organic or cane sugar (conventional sugar is made from GMO beets)
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder (aluminium free)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp sea salt or pink salt
• 1 1/2 cups of pumpkin (or 15 oz canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling))
•  2/3 cup of water or alternative milk (almond, coconut, cashew, etc)
• 1 large egg
• 3 Tablespoons of coconut oil melted
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
2. Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl (except the chocolate chips
3. Mix wet ingredients in a medium bowl
4. Add the dry to the wet mixing until just combined. (Over-mixing will result in dense muffins)
5. Stir in the chocolate chips if you are adding them now.
6. Add liners to muffin tin or greese
7. Separate the mixture evenly among 12 muffin cavities. 
8. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool.  

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