Healthy Pumpkin Treats A Tasty Part of Fall

With pumpkin being one of my favorite baking ingredients, I always look forward to fall when I can stock up on this key ingredient and begin baking some of my family’s favorite pumpkin recipes. In my home, muffins and breads made with pumpkin are always number one on the favorite baked goods list.

On a recent trip to Idaho to visit my parents, I ate a delicious tasting bran muffin at a local bakery.  Baked in parchment paper, I loved the presentation of how the muffin looked in its cute tall wrapper. Taking note of some of the ingredients listed for this particular muffin, I decided I was going to try to create a similar tasting muffin when I returned home.  

The Pumpkin Bran Muffin recipe below is the end result of an afternoon in my kitchen experimenting with a variety of muffin batters in my quest for the Idaho muffin. With my kids as my taste testers, the tenth batch was the charm. Fortunately, due to the fact that my 6-year-old will literally eat anything, the nine other batches weren’t a total waste of ingredients.

The key ingredient for the 10th and final batch was substituting the molasses and brown sugar for the honey that I used in the nine other batches. Rich, dark colored molasses was the perfect complement to the taste of the bran and added the perfect amount of sweetness to the resulting muffins. Like other baking blunders I’ve made, I wondered why it took me 10 batches to figure this out.

The Pumpkin Bran Muffin recipe below is also a low calorie creation that calls for pureed pumpkin rather than oil.  Like applesauce, pureed pumpkin can be substituted for the oil called for in recipes for muffins, breads, and cakes. Not only does the pureed pumpkin create a tastier muffin, it adds extra moistness so that the resulting bran muffin is moist and tasty rather than dry and bland.

If you are looking to adding extra fiber to your diet, the muffin recipe below contains more bran than flour. In fact, for an even higher fiber muffin, this recipe can be adjusted so that the ratio of bran to flour is two to one simply by increasing the bran and decreasing the flour by a quarter of a cup. Other sources of fiber called for in the recipe below are carrots, dried fruit, and pecans.

Another recipe that contains the delicious flavor of pumpkin is the one for Harvest Loaf below. Unlike the Pumpkin Bran Muffin recipe, the sweet bread recipe below isn’t the result of trial and error. This is a recipe that has been in my family for as long as I can remember.  Moist and delicious, this sweet bread pairs pumpkin and chocolate extra richness.

A recipe with virtually fool-proof instructions, the Harvest Loaf recipe below will create a delicious pumpkin bread that will make you want to keep your pantry stocked with pumpkin. Not only is this a delicious bread to serve in the fall, it is also one that I serve on Christmas Eve and throughout the year. Since my family as never tired of this recipe, this is one that is at the front of my recipe box as my go-to recipe for both an easy and tasty sweet bread.

Whether you are looking for a moist high fiber muffin or just a slice of sweet bread to go along with your morning coffee, the recipes below might be just what you are looking for.  By stocking up on extra pumpkin during your next shopping trip, the easy recipes below can be stirred up in minutes and eaten hot from the oven.  

Pumpkin Bran Muffins (makes 12 muffins)

1 cup pureed pumpkin

1 ¼ cups wheat bran

¾ cup buttermilk

1/3 cup molasses

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup unbleached flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ginger

¼ tsp. nutmeg

¼ teaspoon cloves

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup shredded carrots

½ cup craisins

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line muffin cups with parchment paper.
2. In medium sized bowl, mix pumpkin, wheat bran, buttermilk, molasses, brown sugar, and eggs.
3. In another bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and salt.
4. Slowly stir dry ingredients into pumpkin and bran mixture.
5. Fold in carrots and craisins.
6. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.
7. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean.

Kitchen Tip: For an even flavorful muffin, try substituting black strap molasses for the regular molasses and pure cane juice sugar for the brown sugar. Both of these natural ingredients are not only healthier but create tastier baked goods.

Harvest Loaf (makes 1 loaf)

1 ¾ cup flour

1 tsp. soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. nutmeg

¼ tsp. ginger

¼ tsp. cloves

½ cup oil

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

¾ cup pumpkin

¾ cup chocolate chips

¾ cup walnuts, optional

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour 8 or 9 in. loaf pan.
2. Combine flour, soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.
3. Add oil, sugar, eggs, and pumpkin. Mix just until ingredients are thoroughly combined.
4. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan.
6. Bake at 350 for 60 to 75 minutes. 
7. Cool for 10 minutes in pan before transferring to cooling rack. Drizzle spice glaze over the top of loaf while still warm.

Spice Glaze

½ cup confectioners sugar

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

¼ tsp. cinnamon

1-2 Tablespoons milk

1. Stir together sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
2. Blend in 1-2 tablespoons milk. Drizzle over Harvest Loaf.