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Moist, delicious and extremely healthy pumpkin muffins! Includes healthy ingredients like whole wheat (or spelt/einkorn), honey, eggs, and pumpkin puree. You are going to love these!
If there was a recipe in our home that I would say we make more than anything . . . this is it!
Doesn’t matter if it is breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, spring, summer, fall or winter – we whip these up quickly when we need a very nutritious and filling bite.
Since we always have these staple ingredients on hand, they just become our go-to when we can’t think of anything else. (Which is perhaps more often than it should be).
I hope you’ll print this recipe and make it one of your staples as well.
By the way – pumpkin puree totally counts for a vegetable serving!
FALL BAKING TIPS
Since these muffins and other fall baked goods are so common around our house, I decided to make fall baking even more beautiful and enjoyable.
I bought some lovely vintage inspired glass jars and set them on the window sills all around our kitchen. That way we can easily grab the most used ingredients and whip up our baked goods in no time.
This also makes clean up quicker and easier since mostly everything is just an arms reach. If you have shelves in your kitchen, you may want to think about moving common baking ingredients closer to your baking area as well.
OTHER BAKING TIPS FOR HEALTHY PUMPKIN MUFFINS
This is a pretty fool-proof recipe, but I do have some suggestions if you are wanting the best muffin that can be.
- If you want a bit more lift (especially if you are using whole wheat flours), beat your egg whites before adding.
- Don’t over mix
- Don’t school the flour out of the bin, rather use a spoon to fill and measure cup
- Use homemade pumpkin pie spice for the best flavor!
WHAT FLOUR IS BEST IN HEALTHY PUMPKIN MUFFINS
I often use different types of flour for this recipe. We have tried fresh ground einkorn, spelt, white whole wheat, and whole wheat with great success.
For best results when using the ancient grains einkorn and spelt do 1/2 cup white flour and 1 cup of the whole grains. This will give it more lift but allow you to at least include some of these ancient grains.
Sometimes I also have to sprinkle in a bit more flour after mixing it all together to get the right consistency with these other ancient grains – since they all absorb the moisture a little differently. You’ll get a fill for what the batter should look like and then you can experiment more with confidence.
If you do want to keep it 100% whole wheat, I suggest using 100% white whole wheat. If you want to use 100% ancient grains, I suggest whipping the egg whites first or using 1/2 of white flour with them.
Having said that – I often use 100% whole grain fresh ground einkorn or spelt. They don’t look as lovely, but they get scarfed up equally as fast as any flour.
THE BEST MUFFIN TINS
I switched to cast iron muffin tins when I noticed the non stick ones I had always had flaking off layers into our food. Yuck!
Definitely try these out if you can! The cast iron bakes so evenly and nicely, and they will last forever!
Turn your Muffins into a Muffin Cake
Watch me as I show you how to use this same recipe to spruce it up with some chocolate and make it a muffin cake!
Chocolate chips and chopped nuts make wonderful add in to this muffin recipe.
Absolutely! You’ll have to adapt the time it cooks, but it will work out great. I like the quick cook time of muffins so that is what we prefer.
Leftovers can be stored for a day or two covered and in a container. They can also be frozen for up to 2 months with great success.
Pumpkin puree can make your baked good more moist and creamy, and can work as a fat substitute. It is also slightly sweet and can help you reduce the amount of sugar in a recipe. A major bonus is that is is a vegetable, and whenever you can sneak that into a baked good – everybody wins!
Ancient grains like spelt or einkorn have not been genetically modified or refined, and if left as a whole grain they contain more protein, omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins and zinc. They can be more easily digestible for people with gluten sensitivities. While they will be more dense and darker, they add such a delicious nutty and buttery flavor. I adore the rustic qualities and replace all white flour in my baking when I can.
Hope you enjoy this recipe! I’ll add some adaptation notes in the recipe card so you can feel confident to play around if needed for your preferences.
Let me know if you give it a try!
Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/3 cup melted butter
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1/2-3/4 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. If using cast iron muffin tins, heat those with the oven to help it be more “non-stick”.
- Whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate bowl or inside a well in the dry ingredients, mix together the wet ingredients including the eggs, honey, melted butter and pumpkin puree.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients and make sure they are mixed well.
- Fold in chocolate chips
- Divide the batter into your muffin tin, filling each about 3/4 full.
- Bake until golden brown and springing back to your touch. Expect 15-18 minutes, but check frequently.
- Store at room temperature or you can freeze for later.
Notes
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