Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins

I've been making pumpkin everything since the first day of Fall. It's been awesome and not yet overwhelming. I hope!

Either way, my taste-buds and my children's taste-buds have been wanting pumpkin everything. Especially in the morning. And, especially when they get to help mix ingredients.

Our favorites have been making pumpkin muffins together. The other has been making pumpkin pancakes. Today I'll share the muffins since we have made these more regularly.

We've done the "two-ingredient" route a number of times. In fact, that's how I first got started on the pumpkin muffin train years ago just after grad school. I box of cake mix plus one can of pumpkin, easy peasy! Since that time I've always tried to keep a box of Spice Cake mix and a can of pumpkin on hand when in season. For the most part I've done well, but when the boys get stuck on wanting to make pumpkin muffins and I haven't re-stocked those two simple ingredients, a mama's gotta do what a mama's gotta do! Especially a mama that is sure to keep all baking supplies (cake boxes not included) in stock! 

I found this recipe from Smitten Kitchen and loved it! But, since we more often use whole wheat, I've recently decided I love Cardomum in Pumpkin Spice, and I feel all things baked need vanilla extract I have a slightly different version.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2  Cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 TSP Baking Powder
• 1/2 TSP Baking Soda
• 1/2 TSP Kosher Salt
• 1 1/4 Cup Sugar Cane + 1 TBSP Sugar (for cinnamon-sugar topping)
• 1/2 TSP Cinnamon + 1 TSP Cinnamon (for cinnamon-sugar topping)
• 1/4 TSP Nutmeg
• 1/4 TSP Ginger
• 1/8 TSP Ground Clove
• 1/8 TSP Cardamom
• 1 Cup Canned-Pumpkin (Not pumpkin-pie filling)
• 1/2 TSP Vanilla Extract
• 1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 1/3 Cup Applesauce (I use this to help soften the Whole Wheat texture)
• 2 Large Eggs

Heat up your oven to 350F. Butter up your muffin tins so that the muffins don't stick.

In a large bowl, mix up all the dry ingredients. Then, because I don't like using more dishes than I have to, I put all the wet ingredients in the center of the dry ingredients. Start mixing all the wet ingredients in the middle and then incorporate the dry along the way. Stir all ingredients together until combined.

Now to fill your muffin tins: you can do a variation between mini-muffins and regular sized muffins. When I make this recipe I get one dozen regular sized muffins filled 1/2 full, and one dozen mini muffins filled with about 1/2 TBSP of moist ingredients. Depending on which tins you go with, fill them up accordingly!

Next, stir together 1 TSBP of Sugar and 1 TSP of cinnamon to give you that yummy top! Sift the mix of cinnamon and sugar over all the muffins and be generous! Then place those goodies into your pre-heated oven. Mini muffins take 15-20 minutes and regular-sized muffins take 25-30 minutes. Set your timers!

Once the timer goes off, take them out, do the toothpick test and make sure the centers are cooked through. Let them sit in their tins for about 5 minutes and then transfer the goodies to a rack to cool to a nice warm temperature.

Slather some creamy butter on them and eat up! They are delicious! They'll keep for a good two to three days but can also be kept in the freezer for longer.

They're awesome for breakfast, the boys love to help make them, and they taste like all things Fall!

Let me know if you end up trying these out! They are so yummy, easy, and give you warm seasonal fuzzies! What have you been baking more often since the first day of Fall came about?