Pumpkin Spice Muffins
This afternoon on the way home from picking my kids up from school, we stopped to buy some pie-sized pumpkins from the woman down the road with the largest garden I have ever seen!
After dinner, I halved one, scooped the seeds out and baked it so that I could use the seasonal orange flesh for breads, muffins, pancakes and pies (maybe even smoothies)! My middle daughter particularly LOVES pumpkin goodies and so this time of year when I can get pumpkins from the garden or “patch” I buy several, cook them and fill my freezer with hopefully enough to get us through the holidays.
Pumpkin itself is a nutritionally valuable food as 1 cup of raw pumpkin offers only 30 calories, 0 g. fat, 8 g. carbohydrates (1 g. fiber, 2 g. sugar), 1 g. protein, an incredible 171% RDA Vitamin A, 17% Vitamin C, 5% Iron, and 2% Calcium. It is also a very good source of Potassium (not just bananas can prevent muscle cramping for runners!)
My daughter’s personal pumpkin favorite is pancakes, but pumpkin muffins are a close second. While I do have a couple of different recipes, tonight I made one from a book called: Natural Health After Birth by Aviva Jill Romm. The book was a wonderful resource that my sister, who was also my Labor and Post-Partum Doula, lent me after the birth of my third baby to use while trying to nourish a nursing mom and newborn baby. The reason I especially liked the recipes Aviva includes in the book is because she uses nutritionally packed, natural ingredients that typically I would have on hand! (3 big perks in my cooking considerations!)
That being said, while I am not a new mom now, I am still always looking to pack some additional nutrition into morning muffins for my kids and/or me prior to an A.M. run! So savor the smell, flavor and health benefits of an Autumn seasonal favorite:
Best Pumpkin Spice (Cake ) Muffins
2.0 x 1 large (50g)
0.5 x 1 tsp (4g)
0.5 x 1 cup, chopped (117g)
1.0 x 1 cup (1″ cubes) (116g)
0.25 x 1 tsp (6g)
1.0 x 1 tsp (2g)
0.25 x 1 tsp (2g)
1.0 x 1 tsp (2g)
1.0 x 1 cup (200g)
2.0 x 1 cup (120g)
Preparation
Using a small “pie sized” pumpkin, cut in half, scoop out seeds, with flesh sides down in a half an inch of water, bake 1 hour at 350 degrees. Upon taking the pumpkin out of the oven, peel off the outer shell and discard. Smash the fleshy pumpkin into a soft pulp. Depending on the size of the pumpkin, this should make about 2 cups. Use 1 cup for this recipe and save the other or freeze it for later. Combine 1 cup of prepared pumpkin with milk and eggs and beat together until well incorporated. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl: flour, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves – gradually combine the pumpkin mixture with the dry ingredients until well mixed. Stir in the walnuts then pour into either muffin tins or a greased and floured loaf pan or cake pan. Bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
You’ve inspired me once again! I’m going to buy some pumpkin!
I thought you had them growing right alongside your house in your garden?
Those are jack-o-lanterns waiting for Halloween! Baking the muffins right now. We roasted the seeds too. I also roast any and all squash seeds we come across….yummy!