Pumpkin Oat Muffins with Pepitas

A week or so ago, I baked my very first pumpkin.  I’d never tried it before, so thought I’d give it a go.  While commenting about this on others’ blogs, I received some great advice from a baker I truly admire.  Peabody of Culinary Concoctions by Peabody told me that fresh pumpkin works best in soup or bread, and not so much pie. If anyone would know, she would.  You have to check out her recipe list.  Goodness gracious, but it puts on calories just looking at it!  And she has quite a few decadent pumpkin recipes to drool over.

So with that, I have had the opportunity to make Cranberry Pecan Pumpkin Loaves (which I haven’t posted yet, although I did create a photo album in my sidebar– and only a foodie would do that) and these Pumpkin Oat Muffins which I made for a friend.

From start to finish, these delicious, moist muffins took very little time to make — excluding the pumpkin roasting time, of course.  They are very low in calories and fat, if that matters to you.  It does to me, because although I shared these with my friend in a lunch I took to her office, I enjoyed several more myself. 

This recipe was inspired from one in The Enlightened Eater’s Whole Foods Guide by Rosie Schwartz.  It is an excellent book packed with information about the power of phyto foods.  I love the recipes because they don’t taste like something created for a diet.  They’re just excellent recipes with healthy ingredients.

Pop one of these tasty morsels into your mouth with some morning yogurt, and you’re good to go! 

Pumpkin Puree

Roast 2 baby pumpkins that have been split in half and cleaned of seeds and fiber, cut side down in a 350 degree F oven for about an hour.  Let cool until easily handled without burning yourself, then scoop out the pumpkin and into a food processor.  Puree until smooth.  My two pumpkins yielded about 3 c. of puree.  I froze it in three separate bags until I was ready to use it.  Thawing time is very short.

Pumpkin Oat Muffins with Pepitas
Makes 12 regular sized muffins

Topping
1/4 c. traditional oats (not the quick cook variety)
1 T dark brown sugar
1 T melted butter
1/8 tsp. cardamom

Muffins
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. oats (same as above)
3/4 c. dark brown sugar, packed
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp. cardamom
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground  cloves
1/4 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
2 T. chopped pepitas
1 c. freshly cooked pumpkin puree (or canned puree — not pie filling)
3/4 c. 1% milk
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 egg, slightly beaten

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Insert paper cups into two six-count regular sized muffin pans, or spray the bottom of each cup with Pam.

Make the topping and set it aside:  Combine oats, sugar, melted butter and cardamom to a crumbly consistency.

For the muffins:  In a large bowl, mix both flours, oats, sugar, baking powder, spices, baking soda, salt, and pepitas.  In another bowl, combine pumpkin puree, milk, oil, and egg.  Add to the dry mixture stirring until just combined and moist.  Distribute into cups evenly and sprinkle topping on each.  Bake 20-22 minutes, checking to see if the tops are set and dry.  Cool briefly before removing from pans.

If you want to add some calories, a bit of honey mixed with whipped cream cheese is excellent with these.