Pumpkin Carob Muffins

Around here, we celebrate Muffin Tuesday (and Pancake Wednesday and Waffle Thursday). Yes, it's the Ima's Breakfast Menu!

This means that I regularly have to be making muffins for my family to eat. They're relatively picky about the kind of muffins that they like.

Last month I got a pumpkin in my CSA delivery and as I was pureeing it, decided I would make muffins. I browsed through my cookbooks and found a recipe that sounded promising in Jennifer McCann's Vegan Lunch Box cookbook. I haven't made a lot of the recipes in it but I glanced through the recipe and decided to go for it.

Only after I mixed up the batter did I even realize that, duh, there weren't any eggs in it! (That would be the whole vegan thing...) I worried how they would come out and was very happily surprised that not only did they fluff up nicely, they tasted great and were a big hit with my kids.

And - they froze beautifully, were made with whole wheat flour, and were completely pareve (if you don't use real chocolate chips)!

This recipe is definitely a keeper. This week I made a double batch.

Pumpkin Carob Chip Muffins from Vegan Lunch Box

2 changes that I made to the original recipe: I didn't have any flax seed, which I think will just make it healthier, and I used real semi-sweet chocolate chips, which de-veganized the recipe (but I'm not), because I don't stock carob chips in my pantry!

makes 12 muffins

1 cup plain canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup canola oil
2 TB ground flax seed
1 tsp. vanilla
1 2/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
1/3 cup vegan carob chips
Cinnamon Sugar

Preheat the oven to 350º. Spray a nonstick muffin tin sprayed well with nonstick spray, or line the tin with paper muffin cups and spray the cups with nonstick spray. Set aside.

Put the pumpkin, water, canola oil, ground flax seed, and vanilla in a blender and process on high for at least one minute, until light in color and well-blended. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the whole wheat pastry flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add the pumpkin mixture and mix well with a wooden spoon or large spatula until well-blended. Fold in the carob chips.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tin, distributing evenly to make 12 muffins. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with some cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a cake tested inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then use a spatula to gently lift each muffin from the muffin tin. Finish cooling on a wire rack.

Go see what works for other people here!
And this post is also being posted to the Kosher Cooking Carnival.