Nutritious Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

Here’s another dose of Healthy Substitutions! 

Okay so if you’re family is anything like mine, you’re often running late, trying to get everyone out the door and often times food gets thrown on the back-burner. My family is so new and small that I’m not up when my husband is getting ready for work, instead I’m trying to catch a few zzz’s while my son is still sleeping. Unfortunately, that often means my husband is waking up late and skipping breakfast, which is a big no-no. One idea I had was to try to give him something good to eat on the go. Now I’m not suggesting that this should be your everyday breakfast replacement, but when in a pinch, the balance of nutrients that I’ve packed into this simple muffin will help stabilize his blood sugar for the first few hours of the morning until he can finally eat something a little more filling. I’ve taken a basic Pumpkin Muffin Recipe and have made a few simple substitutions that make it a Protein-packed Pumpkin Cranberry Breakfast Muffin.

Here’s the original Pumpkin Muffin Recipe:

1 ½ c. sugar
2 eggs

1 tsp baking soda                                 
¼ tsp baking powder                         

1 2/3 c. all-purpose flour

½ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp cinnamon
¾ tsp salt                                              

½ c. vegetable oil

½ c. cold water
½ tsp cloves                                         

1 c. pumpkin puree (about half a 15 oz can)

Let me start by saying that one of the key items to substituting ingredients, as I have found, is understanding what you are trying to replace, and the item you’re trying to replace it with. For example, if a recipe calls for ½ c vegetable oil and you use ½ c olive oil, you are still using the same amount of oil, you still have the same amount of fat, just a slightly different flavor. However, if the recipe calls for ½ c oil and you substitute it for ¼ c oil and 3Tbsp nonfat greek yogurt, you just cut out half the fat! That’s one healthy substitution! J Now yogurt is a well chosen substitute in baking, but the flavor may not always be what you’re looking for in other items, so in those cases there are other worthy substitutions to be made.- I’ll write another post just to go over worthy substitutes.

Anyway, back to the muffins!

Looking at the original recipe I can tell you right now the only protein inside of this recipe is in the eggs, but there’s plenty of sugar and fat mixed in there! That’s healthy, right? Umm… no, not really.

Okay then, let’s see what changes we can make. I colored the items I’m going to replace in red. First, let’s look at the sugar content. We are making 12 regular sized muffins in this recipe, so maybe we can reduce our sugar intake. Instead of granulated sugar, I am replacing it with brown sugar, which has molasses which will still add flavor even as I reduce the amount. Instead of whole eggs, I will replace it with egg substitute, again, to cut out the cholesterol. Obviously the all-purpose flour will be replaced with wheat flour, but to add in some protein and Omega-3, I will also include, vital wheat gluten flour and ground flaxseed. Finally, as I explained above, we will cut the oil content in half and use non-fat Greek yogurt as a protein packed replacement.

 Thus, My Healthy Pumpkin Muffin Remake:

½ c. + 1 Tbsp brown sugar

½ c. egg whites       

1 tsp baking soda                              
¼ tsp baking powder                         

1 1/3c. whole wheat flour

¼ c. vital wheat gluten flour

2 Tbsp ground flaxseed
½ tsp cinnamon

¾ tsp salt                                              

½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp cloves  

¼ c. vegetable oil

3 Tbsp non-fat Greek yogurt

½ c. cold water                                     

1 c. pumpkin puree (about half a 15 oz can)* 

*Side Note: When purchasing your Pumpkin Puree, be sure its 100% Pure Pumpkin, the ingredient list should have only one ingredient, Pumpkin!        

**If making Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins, simply add ¼ c dried cranberries or chopped fresh cranberries to add some antioxidants to your muffins!   

To Make:

Mix all ingredients together.  Put in greased muffin tin.  Bake at 325 degrees.

12 Muffins = 40-45 minutes

24 Mini muffins = 25 minutes

All of the healthy substitutions are listed in green. As far as protein content- egg whites, vital wheat gluten flour and non-fat Greek yogurt are all packed with protein. Included in your carbohydrate content are the whole wheat flour, yogurt and pumpkin. Omega-3 is in the flaxseed. Fiber is in the pumpkin, and antioxidants are in the cranberries. Nutrition all around in these things!

So now you have a muffin you can actually feel comfort in giving to your husband and children, knowing that it is actually way better for them than bad! Plus my husband loves them!