I don’t know about you but getting up on Monday morning is not my favorite part of the week. Sometimes, long after my early-riser of a husband has gotten up and fixed his breakfast, I find myself still negotiating with the clock for yet another ten minutes. Finally, 6:30 comes…then 7:00 and I can delay no longer. It’s not until I prepare a pot of strong black tea and after I’m halfway through my first cup that all starts to feel right in the world again.
This morning, however, the lure of the kitchen was stronger than an extra ten minutes in bed. By 5:30 I was ready to kick off the sheets. My husband and I would have breakfast together. Besides the usual steel cut oats with yogurt and fruit, I had something else waiting for him.
I’ve made two batches of these Pumpkin Bran Muffins in as many days. One: I was happy to finally bake with pumpkin this season and Two: I’ve been wanting to bake a guilt-free treat for my husband (meaning no cholesterol and lower fat) and I think I’ve accomplished it here. I happily bake with eggs and butter but I space out the baking days so I don’t feel so bad indulging my husband’s sweet tooth.
These muffins have one cup of pumpkin, one cup of oat bran, use whole wheat flour and no eggs and butter. I’ve been curious about using egg substitutes for some baked goods and decided that muffins would be safe to experiment with. For the first batch I made, instead of one egg, I substituted flaxseed meal stirred into three tablespoons of water, a suggestion I found printed on my bag of Bob’s Red Mill flaxseed meal. I had already purchased a bag of Bob Red Mill’s Egg Replacer so, fueled with good results, I made another batch using this egg substitute.
The results were wonderful in both versions though I just slightly prefer the texture from the second batch using the egg replacer (also in powder form and stirred into three tablespoons water). The bran muffins were moist, lighter than I had expected and with a pleasant texture from the oat bran. The bonus was the subtle pumpkin flavor from the mashed pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice. These are best right out of the oven or toasted the next day. My husband slathered his with jam and I ate mine with cheese. Feel free to use a real egg in the recipe but I promise that you won’t taste the difference. Mondays just got a whole lot better.
Healthy Eating Tip: To ensure that we eat our recommend portion of fruit each day I buy a lot of it over the weekend and chop it all up into a fresh fruit salad. It keeps for several days in the refrigerator and makes it a lot easier in the morning to add it to oatmeal or process into a smoothie. For two people I typically will have 1 pineapple, 4 apples, 2 bunches of grapes, 2 pints blueberries and oranges. It makes a lot of fruit salad but you’ll find yourself eating more fruit if it’s already cut up. Perfect with yogurt or as an accompaniment to these muffins.
(Bob’s Red Mill did not compensate me for endorsing their products–I’m just a fan.)
Pumpkin Bran Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup oat bran
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup cooked pumpkin mashed
- 1/2 cup nonfat milk
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil or mild olive oil or grapeseed oil
- 1 tablespoon egg substitute stirred into 3 tablespoons water I used Bob's Red Mill; you can also use 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal with the same amount of water. This is equivalent to one egg
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 400℉ and spray the insides of a muffin pan with cooking spray (I used a 1/3 cup muffin pan).
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In a large bowl add all the dry ingredients from the whole wheat flour to the pumpin pie spice and whisk until combined.
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In another bowl combine the wet ingredients from the cooked pumpkin to the maple syrup and stir well.
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Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until combined. Stir in the chopped pecans.
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Spoon the batter into the muffin pan and bake for 20 minutes. (watch at the 18 minute mark to see if they're done). Remove from the oven and the muffin pan. Best served warm or toasted the next day.
I would love to wake up to these muffins – the absolute Monday (or any day!) treat!
Nothing says fall better than a good pumpkin muffin! And I love that your muffins are healthy and not overly sugary. Some pumpkin “breads” are more like cakes. Yours sound perfect!
Oh I love bran muffins, wen I was little my mom used to make them at dinner time probably 3-4 nights a week. So good for you! I love your spin for the fall, they sound and look amazing!
Great breakfast muffins and healthy too. They look really great and I like that they are baked with egg substitute. I can’t wait to bake them and serve them for breakfast. I can even become an early riser as you, knowing that there are some delicious and healthy muffins waiting for me in the kitchen 🙂
Monday mornings are indeed the roughest of the bunch. I’d happily get out of bed for a batch of these muffins! 😀
My husband has a major sweet tooth, too – but he’s pretty good at breakfast. I was going through my Thanksgiving round up posts and was reminded of the yummy Pumpkin Cheddar Scones you contributed last year. I prefer the less sweet pumpkin baked goods like your cones and these muffins. Hope you are well and Happy Thanksgiving, Jean 🙂
What a great and healthy way to start Monday! I love that you used Bob’s Mill products…I’m a huge fan too! Thank you for sharing!
First time in your space, love these muffins…best bit is that they are so guilt free!
Love these healthy fall inspired muffins -perfect both for everyday and for the holiday weekends! Jean-I could just dive into each and everyone of your photos-they are so beautiful and natural looking 😉
I know your husband was thrilled when he smelled the aroma of these wonderful muffins baking! They look fabulous and your photos are beautiful!
Delicious! Would love one right now while sipping my coffee.
First time here, You have a beautiful space.. delicious recipes .. these muffins are scrumptious.. Glad to follow u 🙂
Monday morning is really tough. My kids wake up by themselves at 6:30am everyday for 8am start at school, but always Mondays are harder for them that I have to wake them up. As for me, I’m just happy that Mondays are short day, so kids don’t need me to pack lunch. I can actually sleep a little more on Mondays. 🙂 Great tip on cutting fruits. I dedicate some time for chopping fruits! Love your bran muffins! I’ve never had pumpkin bran muffins before. Sounds so yummy!
You know I am a fan of muffins, and these look wonderful. I have not tried any of the egg replacer methods with flax meal, but have been curious about it.
I’m still in the mood for pumpkin and I plan to make these yummy oat bran pumpkin muffins.
Hi Jean
These do sound yummy but pumpkin pie spice is not a blend you can buy in Australia and Nor is the egg substitute mix. Can you advise me please- what sorts if individual spices go into pumpkin pie spice mix? Also what is the prepacked egg substitute made from ? I have used soy flour sometimes in things but not sure if it would work. We might have flax seed meal here – is it the same as linseed? We can buy that unground. How much egg would you use if not substituting? Cheers and thanks for sharing – Beck
Hi Beck,
Here is a post from my friend Kim for homemade pumpkin pie spice:
http://livlifetoo.yummly.com/2012/10/diy-homemade-pumpkin-pie-spice.html
The egg replacer is made mainly of soy flour but ground flaxseed (I believe it’s equivalent to linseed in your area) works exactly the same way (according to my package of ground flaxseed). One egg is equal to 1 tablespoon of ground egg replacer mixed into 3 tablespoons of water. The same ratio works for ground flaxseed.
I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have other questions. Thanks so much for your interest in this recipe. 🙂
Okay… I just made these and OMG are they wonderful. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! They are very satisfying with no guilt…. which perhaps makes them the best muffins ever!
I made a double batch- so I can freeze some for later…. If they even make it that far! These muffins are not very sweet (which I like), moist and super filling.
I did change a few things with fabulous results. I suggest making a double batch for I got 12 large muffins and about 7 small ones. The following measurements are for a double batch:
1. Instead of using 2 Cup oat bran;
-3/4 Cup Oat bran
-1/4 Cup flax seed meal
-1 Cup wheat germ
2. I swapped out the regular oil for Coconut Oil. Soooo yummy!
3. Substituted the egg substitute with real eggs (2) omitted the water.
4. No salt- because I forgot it.
5. Doubled or even tripled the spices. I didn’t have “pumpkin spice” so I made my own: Cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. Don’t over do it on the clove.. it’s very strong.
6. Switched the non-fat milk with vanilla soy milk.
*My big muffins were done at around 17 minutes. I like to pull them when I insert a toothpick in the center of one and it comes out slightly sticky- not dry. This will keep your muffins nice and moist.
**The small muffins took about 14 minutes.
Lots of nutrition and my 2.5 year old gobbled on up! That should tell you something….
Jenn, thank you so much for your feedback. I’m so glad you and your little one liked these muffins and I like the substitutions you made. Always appreciate my readers taking the time to let me know how the recipes work for them so many thanks again!!! 🙂
I love pumpkin but it is out of season where I am. Think this is something that can be substituted with zucchini?
I’m not quite sure that zucchini would be a good swap for the pumpkin since I’ve not tried it. The pumpkin imparts a natural sweetness that I like.
How about sweet potato? I’ve just shared a recipe using puréed roasted sweet potato (using one of my pumpkin recipes as a base) and it worked. This might be worth a try. 🙂
Excellent recipe. These turned out just right. I love the low sugar content, but they are still delicious. I added in some vanilla and just half a teaspoon of ground cloves, and a teaspoon of cinnamon because I didnt have pumpkin pie spice. Very good recipe.
Julia, I’m so glad you liked these muffins. Thanks so much for taking the time to give me feedback. 🙂