Fall has officially come to Savannah, and I have been fully buying into pumpkin spice season. Pro tip: if you are overwhelmed by the calories and/or cost of Starbucks’ pumpkin items, try Califa Farms Almond Milk Pumpkin Spice creamer in hot or cold brew coffee.
The Starbucks item I have a weakness for is pumpkin bread. Because I love all pumpkin bread. I have always been hesitant to make my own because having a constant supply would be very dangerous. However, I have been making banana muffins like crazy lately to try to identify the perfect balance of healthy and scrumptious, and I could not resist the cans of pumpkin puree suddenly filling the shelves of the baking section… so here we are making pumpkin muffins that don’t feel like such a splurge.
My first instinct was to follow my banana muffin recipe, but I ended up deciding to base my substitutions off of another tried-and-true pumpkin muffin recipe to make sure the spices were correct. I found one that used ground ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon, which are all things I keep around. I am sure allspice would achieve much the same flavor, and in fact I think I will add a pinch of cloves (already included in allspice) in the future.
As for the substitutions: instead of flour I used chickpea flour (1 cup flour to 3/4 cup chickpea), instead of granulated sugar I used Truvía® (1/4 cup was all it took to achieve the sweetness of 1 1/4 cups of sugar), and instead of apple juice I used water. The recipe did suggest in the postscript that one could use applesauce instead of vegetable oil, and I think that would be worth trying to harness another fall flavor in these muffins.
While I was very pleased with the results of these substitutions (can a muffin with chickpea flour and pumpkin count towards my daily veggies??), I ended up regretting using the two eggs called for rather than the one I use for banana muffins. While the muffins came out looking gorgeous, the extra egg made them a little too cakey for my taste.
I also deviated from the original recipe by jumping straight into throwing everything into one bowl, which is how I mix the banana muffins, and it worked without a hitch. You’ll see in the instructions, this is all too easy once you line up your ingredients.
Preheat that oven to 350F, get out your muffin tin and embrace the pumpkin spice!
P.S. I use Truvía® and Stevia when I can because they are sugar alcohols rather than artificial sweeteners, which make me nervous. Not only are there whispers of carcinogenic effects, there are also studies now suggesting artificial sweetener may have the same effect on blood sugar as bona-fide sugar.
P.P.S. I snuck dark chocolate chips into one of the muffins, and it was delicious too!
PUMPKIN SPICE MUFFIN RECIPE
Ingredients:
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ½ cup vegetable oil (or applesauce)
- ¼ cup water
- 1 cup chickpea flour
- ¼ cup Truvía®
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1-2 large eggs
- Optional: pinch of ground cloves
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Spray or line 12-cup muffin tin
- Combine all ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir or whisk
- Fill each muffin tin cup to just over half its capacity
- Place in the oven for 17 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean
