blue artichoke

November is to be the month of weekend pumpkin muffins. The recipe for this second batch also came from Cooking Light (as did last week's recipe), and the muffins are similar enough to be difficult to pick a favorite. I think I liked last week's muffins better because they seemed to have a deep, rich pumpkin flavor (probably because of the molasses); GC picks these muffins because they are moister (probably because of the applesauce). You can't go wrong with either one; both are better than most pumpkin muffins I've had.

Pumpkin Muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)
½ cup whole wheat flour (about 2 1/2 ounces)
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 ¼ teaspoons pumpkin-pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup canned pumpkin
½ cup fat-free buttermilk
½ cup egg substitute
¼ cup canola oil
¼ cup applesauce
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375°.

Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, granulated sugar, and next 5 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.

Combine pumpkin and the next 4 ingredients (through applesauce) in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Spoon batter into 16 muffin cups coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 375° for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Cool muffins in pans 5 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 muffin)

CALORIES 145(28% from fat); FAT 4.6g (sat 0.5g,mono 2.3g,poly 1.6g); PROTEIN 2.6g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 33mg; SODIUM 149mg; FIBER 1.2g; IRON 1.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 24.1g
Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2005

I don't often have buttermilk around, so I usually just sour regular milk by adding some lemon juice or white vinegar, ~ 1 T. lemon juice per 1 c. milk. I also don't usually have egg substitute, so I use regular eggs. One egg = 1/4 c. egg substitute, so I used 2 eggs in this recipe.