Healthy Pumpkin Muffins

In an effort to partially revamp my diet, and to follow my midwife's orders of no processed sugars or simple carbohydrates, I decided to try a healthy pumpkin muffin recipe to replace the craving for a slice of Starbuck's pumpkin loaf mid-morning.  These muffins have a lot of ingredients, including some that you probably don't have hanging around your pantry already, but I think the extra effort is worth the signifcant cut in sugar, calories, and fat found in most baked goods. 

Ingredients:
- 1 c whole wheat flour
- 1/4c oat or wheat bran
- 1/4c flaxseed meal
- 2t baking powder
- 1 1/2t baking soda
- 2t cinnamon
- 1/4t ground ginger
- 1/4t ground cloves
- 1/4t ground nutmeg
- 3/4c pumpkin puree
- 2 large eggs
- 3T canola oil (you maybe could use even less)
- 1c white grape juice concentrate
- 1/3c sugar free apricot preserves (I used sugar free even though I am very sensitive to that artificial sugar taste)
- 2t vanilla
- 2/3c golden raisins or chopped dried apricots
- 1/2c toasted chopped walnuts

- Mix together the dry ingredients (flour, bran, flaxseed, baking powder and soda, and spices).  In a separate bowl, mix together the pumpkin, eggs, oil, grape juice concentrate, preserves, and vanilla until it is all a consistent texture.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.  Add the dried fruit and toasted nuts, as desired. 

- Divide evenly into 12 muffins and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
I think the walnuts add a great toasty crunch to the finished muffins, even though I usually shy away from nuts in my baked goods.  I also used the golden raisins, which plump up during cooking, and take on a very moist texture that almost blends into the rest of the muffin.  Next time I might chop them up a bit, as they can get pretty large after they expand in the muffins. 

Finally, I think you could substitute in a different juice concentrate for the white grape juice, if desired.  Apple juice concentrate would probably work well. 

Up next week:  Triple blueberry muffins!