Quick and healthy muffins? Yes, please!
Because I love baking and finding new recipes so much, I’m often trying to adapt recipes and make them a bit healthier. These whole wheat pumpkin oat muffins are a great healthier option to some other muffin recipes out there because it uses, you guessed it, 100% whole wheat flour.
Another alternative ingredient I like to use in these muffins is to replace dairy milk with almond milk. I’ve been on an almond milk kick for years now and while I don’t have a dairy intolerance or sensitivity, I do prefer it to cow’s milk occasionally as a lower calorie option.
How easy is it to make these muffins?
I love a recipe where I can dump everything in a bowl and mix it up. This is practically just that. If you really want to keep it simple and reduce the number of dishes that end up in your sink, you can skip adding the topping to the muffins, but you’ll really be losing some of the sweetness and the perfect crunch you’ll have in each bite.
- Start by setting your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and lining your muffin tin.
2. Gather all your wet muffin ingredients and mix them together in a large bowl using a hand or stand mixer. If you don’t have one of those, you can simply mix it all together using a wooden spoon.
3. Add all your dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir until all the ingredients are incorporated. I like to pause and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and then mix again for a few seconds to make sure I got everything fully blended.
4. Use a cookie scoop or a spoon to place your batter into the muffin liners. You’ll want to fill each liner up about 3/4 full.
4. In a small bowl, mix all your ingredients for the topping. You don’t need anything fancy here. I just mix this up with a fork or a whisk by hand.
5. Add a bit of the topping (about 1/2 tbsp) to the top of each muffin. If you want to really go crazy, you could double the amount of the topping ingredients to get a good hefty amount on each muffin. Keep in mind, this may increase your bake time by a minute or so.
6. Bake your muffins at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 12 minutes.
Storing your muffins:
You can either eat these hot out of the oven (try not to burn your mouth!) or let them cool on a cooling rack for about 30 minutes. They can easily be stored in a zipped bag either at room temperature for about 2-3 days, in the refrigerator for about 5 days, or in the freezer for about 2 weeks.
If you freeze your whole wheat pumpkin oat muffins, you can quickly thaw them by removing them from the plastic bag, wrapping them in a paper towel, and microwaving them for about 30 seconds.
Why do I love these muffins?
These really are the perfect treat to satisfy my sweet tooth. Because of the ingredients, I feel like I’m getting good nutrients without all the guilt. My favorite way to eat whole wheat pumpkin oat muffins is just after they’ve cooled slightly and with a cup of coffee.
Whole Wheat Pumpkin Oat Muffins
Equipment
- 1 muffin tin
- 18 paper muffin tin liners
- 1 Hand or Stand Mixer
Ingredients
Muffins
- 1 cup unsalted butter (melted)
- 1 cup milk (I use almond milk)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup old fashioned oats (or whatever type of oats you have)
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Topping
- 5 tbsp unsalted butter (melted)
- 4 tbsp whole wheat flour
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F and line your muffin tin with the liners.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, add melted butter, milk, eggs, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, and brown sugar. Mix together for about 1 minute until incorporated.
- Add flour, oats, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice to the wet ingredients. Mix for about 2 minutes until fully combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again to make sure all ingredients are incorporated.
- Use a spoon or a cookie scoop to measure out batter and place in muffin liners. Fill each liner about 3/4 full. Set aside while you make the topping.
- For the topping, mix melted butter, flour, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice using a for or whisk.
- Sprinkle topping onto each muffin. This will be about a 1/2 tbsp per muffin.
- Bake muffins for about 12 minutes at 400°F.