Description

Fall just screams for all things pumpkin, and when the cold weather starts, the pumpkin spice comes out to play – YUM! We have just the pumpkin treat to sate your pumpkin needs, our Healthy Vegan Pumpkin Muffins are sure to please. Perfectly tender with just the right amount of pumpkin and cinnamony goodness. Full of healthy goodness, you can even have these treats for a guiltless breakfast, and you can be assured that every bite will be packed with deliciousness. Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, gluten free, and no highly processed ingredients.

Ingredients

Scale

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup almond flour, lightly packed
½ cup rolled oats, coarsely chopped
½ cup brown rice flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice *
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoon flax meal
1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ cup dried maple sugar *
½ teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *

Wet Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon vanilla
1/3 cup unsweetened almond butter, softened *
1 cup canned pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie filling)
¾ cup unsweetened plain plant milk

Toppings

3/4 cup chopped walnuts – optional
Sprinkle of WFPB powdered sugar (optional)

Optional Maple Glaze Ingredients:

½ cup cashews
3 Tablespoons unsweetened plain plant milk
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
3 Tablespoons organic maple syrup
¼ teaspoon vanilla

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Instructions

Muffin Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place oven rack in the center position.
Line a muffin pan with 12 paper muffin liners, set aside.
Place the oats in a food processor and process just to break up the oats, about 20 seconds. You want coarsely chopped oats, not create oat flour. Then add to a large mixing bowl. Add all the other dry ingredients (almond flour, rice flour, sea salt, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, cocoa powder, baking powder, dried maple sugar, flax meal) to the mixing bowl with the oats, whisk to combine. (see notes on pumpkin pie spice)
Add all the wet remaining ingredients (vanilla, pumpkin, almond butter, and plant milk to the dry ingredients, stir well by hand to combine. The mixture should be thick like a brownie batter.
Fill the muffin cup liners almost to the top. Optional: Place chopped walnuts on top and slightly press them onto the batter to secure. Place in the oven for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the muffins comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes, then remove the muffins from the muffin pan. Place on a wire rack until completely cooled.
Optional: Sprinkle with WFPB powdered sugar – see notes
Optional: Drizzle with Maple glaze – see recipe instructions

Maple Glaze Instructions

Quick soak the cashews by placing the cashews in a bowl, then add boiling water just to cover them. Soak for 20 minutes, then discard the water.
Place the soaked cashews and all the remaining ingredients in a high-speed blender. Blend on high for one minute until very smooth and creamy.
Taste test the glaze, adjust the flavors as needed.
Adjust the consistency by adding more plant milk if too thick.
Drizzle over completely cooled muffins.
Refrigerate muffins if the maple glaze is used and you have leftovers. OR refrigerate the Maple Glaze and add to individual muffins when served.

Notes

*Pumpkin Pie Spice: Some pumpkin pie spices are stronger than others. For example, some brands have a very strong, sharp flavors whereas Penzeys has a mild flavor. We think individual personal preference really depends upon what you are most familiar with when it comes to pumpkin pie spice.

If you are using Penzeys, you may wish to increase the pumpkin pie spice to 2 ½ teaspoons. If you are using another brand, you may wish to stick to the 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice. You can actually taste the batter to get a sense of the flavor profile for the end baked product, and then adjust as needed.

*Maple Sugar/Sweeteners: We get tons of questions about sweetener substitutions. We totally get it. Some folks want to use all Medjool dates, while others want to use all maple syrup. We’ve tried these muffins using all Medjool dates, they turned out gummy. We also tried using all maple syrup, they just didn’t hold up. Honestly, the best sweetener for this recipe is maple sugar. Additionally, using date sugar is not recommended either as it just doesn’t have the same flavor and texture needed for this recipe. ***We also get a lot of questions about using coconut sugar, if your diet permits, you can substitute coconut sugar for the maple sugar. However, we have not tested with coconut sugar; many of our readers have let us know that coconut sugar works well as a substitute for maple sugar.

*Almond Butter: Most almond butter is generally already very soft; however, some brands do require refrigeration after opening where it then becomes rigid when cold. If you are using an almond butter that has been refrigerated, then heat up the amount needed in the microwave for about 25 seconds or remove the required amount from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before stirring in. It is difficult to distribute refrigerated almond butter evenly throughout the batter as it tends to lump up. You want it softened, not melted.

*Flour Substitutions: This recipe is gluten free and was specifically designed to use a combination of almond flour, brown rice flour, and oats. We do not have any substitutions to offer.

*“WFPB Powdered Sugar” – Optional: Place 1 Tablespoon of dried maple sugar and 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch into a high-speed blender (ex. Ninja) and blend on high for one minute to create a very fine powder. Sprinkle the maple “powdered sugar” over top of completely cooled muffins through a fine mesh sieve.

*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.

*Serving: Makes 12 muffins.

*Storage: Use within 4 days. Freezes well.