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It’s Fallllllllll Y’alllllllll.
And you know what that means. Pumpkin spice everything. I used to hate on this trend a little bit I am not going to lie to y’all. But I knew a majority of you would be eating pumpkin spice recipes regardless of what I thought, so I wanted to provide you with healthy options to do so!
Then in the process, I turned into a believer. I love every single recipe I tried that was pumpkin flavor based. And there were a LOT of them. So get ready for some major influx of pumpkin recipes on the blog. However, mark my words, I still stand firm on the fact that I will never order a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks. Mostly because I know how caloric and fattening they are, I am sure they are delicious. So y’all hold me to that. And if any of you are currently suffering from the widespread epidemic of Starbucks latte addiction, I got your back. I’ve got a drink recipe coming soon that will save your wallet – and your waistline – a lot of trouble. Stay tuned.
DWBH Difference
I don’t know about you, but when I hear “muffin” I don’t really tend to think “healthy.” I think of a baked good full of flour, butter, and sugar – usually tons of chocolate chips – that people have decided to call a breakfast food. Don’t get me wrong, I love muffins, and the idea of basically eating cake for breakfast is probably one of the most brilliant inventions I’ve ever heard of, but still not healthy. And eating cake for breakfast probably won’t keep you full and help you make smarter food choices throughout your day. So here are how our muffins are different.
First of all, NO flour. Flour is a pretty useless ingredient if I am being frank. At least when it comes to nourishing our bodies and looking for healthy options. Most baked goods use white flour, or “enriched” flour. This would be considered one of those “bad carbs” that is one of the (many) main culprits of America’s obesity issues. White flour is refined, stripped of any nutritional value, therefore doesn’t add any benefit to your body. And enriched flour just has nutrients that are lost during processing returned, normally iron and B vitamins. But I promise that is not the same benefit as eating whole grains. Yes you can choose a whole grain flour, which is far superior to some other options, but your body will still metabolize this flour differently than an unprocessed whole grain. Since it is ground up, your bloodstream absorbs its faster, which can result in a spike in blood sugar. The problem here is that this can cause your insulin, your body’s primary fat storing hormone, levels to increase. Which is the opposite of beneficial for anyone trying to watch their weight.
On top of that, these muffins are completely gluten free, grain, oil, dairy, and refined sugar free, and are vegan friendly! We even added our favorite organic super seed blend from Nutiva to give you all the health benefits chia, flax, and hemp seeds have to offer (but you can’t taste them!)
Taste the Difference
And in a GOOD way. Normally we think healthy foods are boring foods. When someone offers you a gluten free cookie a lot of us hesitate, take one to be polite, and then force it down so we don’t upset our friend. But when you find that one cookie that can be both healthy AND delicious, your mind is instantly blown.
That basically sums up these muffins. Yes, they are going to have a different texture than ordinary muffins made with flour, sugar, butters, and oils, but in this case it is actually better. Not kidding. Who enjoys eating cookie dough straight out of the jar even though we aren’t supposed to? I know I do. These muffins essentially are the texture of a fudgy cookie dough. What’s not to love about that!? (Nothing, the correct answer is nothing).
So I am not only offering you a way to eat as I called it before “cake” for breakfast, but I am making that cake feel like you are sitting down with your favorite tub of cookie dough. But it’s HEALTHY. And nutritious! And won’t leave you with that heavy feeling in your stomach – full of guilt or full of literal pounds of cookie dough.
Pumpkin Spice Muffin Tops
Ingredients:
1 medium over-ripe banana- 1 can white beans
- 1/2 cup gluten free oats
- 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/8 cup agave nectar
- 1/4 cup almond butter
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp super seed blend
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 2/4 tsp baking powder
- Toppings: mini dark chocolate chips, unsweetened toasted coconut flakes
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- In a small bowl, mash your banana.
- Drain and rinse your beans, then pat dry. Note: You want to rinse the beans very thoroughly, in order to get rid of any “bean” taste – they are just used for the consistency.
- In a blender or food processor, combine and mix all ingredients together.
- If adding toppings – pour your chocolate chips and/or coconut flakes into the batter after blending (so you don’t destroy them) but before adding to pan (so they are consistent throughout mix and not only on the top).
- Pour into 12 muffin cups (it should only fill each about half way). Note: Either line with a cupcake wrapper or grease with olive oil (use a mister!) to ensure easy removal.
- Add extra toppings if desired.
- Bake for about 18-20 minutes (these will not rise – don’t think you prepared them incorrectly).
- Let cool in pan before removing.
You can store these in the refrigerator and enjoy for 3-4 days, or freeze them and have them handy for 2-3 weeks! Mine never last that long so I just keep them in the fridge 😛
Note: These make muffin “tops” because spreading the amount of batter this recipe makes between 12 normal sized muffin tins only fills them up maybe halfway. And they don’t rise. Therefore it makes them seem like muffin tops. If you would rather have regular sized muffins you could spread the mix between 8-9 cups. Or make mini muffins with a miniature muffin tin!
