Happy First Day of Fall!
In Southern California, about the only way we know that fall has arrived is when the supermarkets start stockpiling cans of pumpkin puree.
Good thing, because I just adore the flavor of pumpkin and the spices that go along with it! The culinary possibilities seem limitless … pumpkin baked goods, pumpkin soup, pumpkin butter … The only question becomes, just how many cans of pumpkin can I fit in my pantry? LOL!
These grain-free pumpkin spice muffins are so moist and delicious – definitely a wholesome way to celebrate the fabulous flavors of fall! So get those cans of pumpkin puree ready (or even better your own homemade pumpkin puree), because not only is pumpkin delicious, it’s highly nutritious too!
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups blanched almond flour
- 1/4 tsp celtic sea salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup whole milk yogurt (see *note below if you’re dairy-free)
- 1/3 cup organic raisins
- 1/4 cup crispy walnut pieces, plus extra for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with 12 paper liners.
- In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt, baking soda, and spices.
- Using an electric mixer low speed, blend together the pumpkin, eggs, maple syrup and yogurt (if DF, see *note below) until smooth.
- Pour wet ingredients into the dry and whisk together until well combined.
- Gently fold in the raisins and walnuts.
- Fill muffin liners 2/3 full with batter. Sprinkle tops with additional walnuts, if desired.
- Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
- Then, turn the oven down to 325 degrees and continue baking another 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Allow to muffins to cool about 10 minutes in pan. Enjoy!
Notes
Dairy-Free Option: If you're DF, simply replace the yogurt with unsweetened applesauce. Enjoy!
I was wondering if applesauce would work instead of yogurt. That would be yummy!
That’s certainly worth a try, Kelly! Let me know how it goes! Blessings, Kelly
I made these this morning, and they are delicious! I left the raisins out and added in 1/4 cup chocolate chips to make them a real treat! Thanks for the recipe! It is pinned!
Awesome, Jessica! So glad you all enjoyed these – what a great idea to use chocolate chips – kinda puts them in the healthier cupcake category then! Blessings, Kelly
YUM! Printing and sharing…I love fall-ish recipes! Thank you!
My pleasure! Hope you and your precious family enjoy it!
I can’t wait to try this! We cannot do walnuts though, any suggestions for a substitute?
Thanks!
Candice
Hi, Candace! Chopped pecans are also yummy, if you can do pecans? Or you can simply leave out the nuts entirely and these are still great. Lots of blessings, Kelly
Thank you! I was hoping you would say we could do without the nuts, but I may try the pecans too!
A friend in the comments above puts chocolate chips in these for an extra special treat! I’m definitely going to try that!
These look amazing! Could you use pumpkin seeds in place of walnuts? Would make a great snack for school but not allowed nuts at school! Thanks
That’s such an awesome idea, Jacquie! But be aware these are made with almond flour, so if they have a strict no nuts rule, these won’t work. But you can certainly enjoy them at home!
Looks yummi!!! Can I use oat flour(oatmeal in my vitamixer)?? I only have rice flour in my pantry?!?
Hi, Thais! I know it’s tempting to sub alternate flours, but unfortunately, especially when it comes to GF flours, it’s not possible to simply substitute one for another. Each flour behaves very differently. Since this recipe was specifically developed to work with blanched almond flour, using another flour may result in less than desirable results. If you haven’t baked with blanched almond flour, I highly recommend saving this recipe until you can purchase some and give it a try. Blanched almond flour and coconut flour are my two flavor GF flours, because they are high in protein, fiber and lots of nutrients. And they taste wonderful! Lots of blessings, Kelly
So if one were to use applesauce instead of yogurt, would it be the same 1/4 cup?
Hi, Candice! That’s a great idea to give a try! I do think 1/4 cup of applesauce should sub out just fine. I am going to have to try this myself. Please let me know how it turns out if beat me to it! Blessings, Kelly
I’ll let you know! Making them tonight.
Can’t wait to hear how they turn out! Thanks, Candice!
So, these turned out amazing!! I had to do 2 TBSP of milled flax seed + 6 TBSP of water to replace the 2 eggs. I also did applesauce instead of the yogurt, and no nuts. Oh, and I also did half maple syrup/half raw honey. My boys were all begging for more.
Thanks for the recipe!
Awesome, so glad these worked out so well with your adjustments! Appreciate you sharing with us! Lots of blessings, Kelly
Made these muffins for the first time. I didn’t care for them as much as my husband did. I felt like they were a little ‘wet’ in the middle. I am doing something wrong? When I put a toothpick in, they didn’t come out wet, so I am not sure. Thanks for all the wonderful recipes!
Hi, Jacci. Every oven differs in actual baking temp, some run hotter than temp, some cooler. I would try slightly extending the baking time next time. You could also try using one tablespoon less of the yogurt. Lots of blessings, Kelly
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but I have noticed the same texture issue with others. They seem almost “egg-y”.Maybe that is what Jacci experienced? I’m pretty sure my results are due to using almond meal instead of almond flour. I’m going to try grinding the almond meal further to see if I can get a finer texture product.
Hi, Jennifer. I think Jacci’s issue was not cooking them long enough, perhaps her oven runs cooler. I will tell you though that there is a huge difference between almond meal and blanched almond flour. I don’t recommend substituting almond meal for recipes that were created using blanched almond flour for this reason. Sometimes you can get away with it (like in a cookie recipe) but when texture counts, it can result in a very heavy end product. If you can’t locate blanched almond flour or don’t want to purchase it online, you can easily make it by fine grinding blanched almonds. Here’s a link that explains how to both blanch and grind blanched almonds into almond flour. Hope this helps! Lots of blessings, Kelly
http://indiankhanna.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-to-make-almond-flour-homemade.html
These are so good! My husband thinks they’re dessert – perfect! My kids preferred not to try them ,but maybe with chocolate chips
Chocolate makes everything better (or at least more tempting for the picky eaters) – LOL!
I pinned these forever ago & finally made them this morning- so good! Thank you for sharing
Hi, Mandi! So glad you enjoyed them! And good for you to make something you actually pinned – LOL – maybe it’s just me, but I definitely pin a ton more than I actually follow-through on making.
can’t wait to try the pumpkin muffins—thought for sure someone would have suggested dried cranberries in lieu of raisins! pumpkin+cranberry=thanksgiving yum!
That thought hadn’t even crossed my mind, Becky. What a brilliant idea! YUM!
Thanks for sharing!
I am back with another variation of these delicious muffins. I made banana nut muffins.
FIRST-omit spices, raisins, and pumpkin.
SECONDLY: add 3/4 cup mashed, ripe bananas, 1/2 teaspoon GF vanilla. I doubled nuts and used pecans because that is what I like.
ALL other ingredients, measures, and baking are the same as the pumpkin pie muffins. Equally delicious!!!!!
Yum! Thanks for sharing, Becky! I am so happy you’re having so much fun creating new variations! And appreciate you sharing with us! You’re such a blessing!