OK, so here’s the skinny with this one, Toby Joe and I were kicking around over the weekend and wandered into a local eatery here called Urban Rustic. They sell local fruits, vegetables, sandwiches and baked goods.

Toby Joe doesn’t like sweets, but on Saturday he was so hungry he settled for a muffin from Urban Rustic. And wouldn’t you know? He loved it. It was perfectly healthy, barely a touch of sugar and the brown bag it came in didn’t have a spot of oil on it. All was well with the world.

A little bit more history.

Several years ago, I started making these pumpkin spice muffins. I make them every fall. They’re far too sweet for Toby Joe’s tongue, but there was this one time right after Emory was born (my brain still a bit hormonally challenged) where I forgot to add the sugar. I was bummed because I felt muffin-less and I hate wasting food. Naturally, Toby loved them. I had forgotten all about it until our Urban Rustic experience.

All that to say that today I’m going to share a variation of those healthy muffins with you today. (Next week, I’ll share the not so healthy version, which are awesome.) These muffins are not for everyone, and they definitely aren’t going to win any awards when it comes to how they look, but they sure do hit the spot if you’re craving something healthy and seasonal.

What you will need

• Muffin tins
• Mixer

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 beaten egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 to 1 cup of raisins (optional)
• 1 cup of walnuts (optional)
• 1 tablespoon ground flax (optional)

Mom It Down!

Preheat oven to 375.

Lightly oil and flour muffin tins.

Add flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices to your mixer.

Mix up milk, beaten egg and melted butter and pumpkin in a separate bowl.

Give that  good stir.

Add it to the mixer.

Stir that up a bit. (It will be lumpy.)

Add raisins, walnuts and flax seed, give it a few turns. You’re done!

Fill up six to 10 muffin tins. (I did six this weekend and it worked, but I think the next time I’ll spread it out to maybe 10. We’ll see.)

Bake for 15 – 18 minutes

Overcoming Obstacles

If you don’t want to oil your tins, feel free to use muffin liners. It’s less clean up and you don’t risk sticking.

Varations

I’ve substituted brown sugar for regular sugar. I’ve added half a teaspoon of vanilla. I’ve also used whole wheat pastry flour instead of regular whole wheat flour. The pastry flour makes for lighter, airier muffins.

Also! Vegans! These can easily be made vegan. Use an egg substitute, substitute the butter with applesauce and use soy milk instead of milk.

And dieters, if you want to cut back even more, you can omit the sugar and use splenda instead.

Hit me up with suggestions!