About This Recipe
There is something about having a million things I should be doing that inspires me to bake.
It must be the ultimate form of procrastination – procrastibaking.
Even though it’s the last thing I should be doing, it serves the purpose of sorting out my snack needs for the rest of the week (or so I justify it to myself).
As I head towards my final year of Nutritional Medicine, the pressure and workload is ever-increasing, but my passion for health deepens.
There isn’t a day that goes past now where I don’t have a least one ‘aha’ moment.
The links between our diet, lifestyle, stress levels, emotional wellbeing and even spiritual awareness have become increasingly more apparent to me.
I finally feel like the smaller pieces of a larger puzzle are starting to coming together.
The more I learn the deeper my drive becomes to find to the root cause of chronic health conditions of my own and those around me.
Recipe creation has been an integral part of my journey with nutrition.
I see it as a practical way of channelling my passion and learning into something tangible.
I want to show you that healthy eating is fun, colourful, delicious, creative and satisfying!
The way you eat is one part of a broader picture of health, however by setting up healthy, sustainable habits in the kitchen the flow on effect into other areas of your life can be enormous.
So, in the spirit of procrastibaking, I’ve created these Pumpkin Pie Muffins.
They are the most delicious treats that let you sneak an extra serve of veggies into your day.
Topped with a tangy cashew-lemon icing (which reminds me a little of the delicious icing normally used on carrot cake) and sprinkled with a pumpkin pie spiced pecan crumble, these are the perfect sweet craving stopper.
Packed with complex carbohydrates and healthy fats from nuts these muffins will keep you going all afternoon.
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This granola tastes so naughty but is nutritionally nice.
With no refined oils or sweeteners, it is low fat and low GI and will keep you going all morning!
It is sweetened with date paste and the entire batch contains only 2 tablespoons of tahini to stick it all together.
Sprinkle on top of nicecream or smoothie bowls or simply enjoy a bowl with almond milk and fresh fruit.
NOTE: This recipe makes 1 big jar of granola which will last you a week or two of breakfasts.
If you are making this recipe for Christmas presents I would suggest doubling it so that you can get a few smaller jars out of it.
Add a cute pumpkin label with the ingredients on the side for a special home-made touch!
How To Make This Recipe
Pumpkin Pie Muffins with Lemon Cashew Cream and Pecan Spiced Crumble
Ingredients
Pumpkin Muffins
- 330g raw pumpkin (around 2.5 cups), diced into small cubes
- 4 Tbsp. maple syrup or your favourite sweetener (I used stevia for a sugar-free alternative)
- 1/2 cup coconut or almond milk
- Juice and zest of 1/2 a lemon
- 2 Tbsp. tahini
- 1 organic egg or 1 flax egg
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- pinch salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1.5 cups buckwheat flour (or sub brown rice flour)
- 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
- 1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans
Lemon Cashew Cream Icing
- 3/4 cup raw cashews
- Zest and juice 1/2 a lemon
- 1/2 Tbsp. maple syrup or your favourite sweetener (I used stevia for a sugar-free alternative)
- Dash of coconut or almond milk
Spiced Pecan Crumble
- 1/2 cup pecans
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut
- 1 Tbsp. coconut oil
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 Tbsp. maple syrup or your favourite sweetener (I used stevia for a sugar-free alternative)
Takes ,makes 10 muffins.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a 10 capacity muffin tin with patty pans. Line a baking tray with baking paper and spread the pumpkin cubes evenly
- Roast the pumpkin cubes for around 15 minutes until completely soft
- In the bowl of a high strength food processor or blender, add the roasted pumpkin, maple, lemon juice + zest, tahini, egg, spices and salt. Process until completely smooth
- Add the baking powder and flour and process again until mixed
- Stir through the desiccated coconut and pecans
- Spoon tablespoons of the pumpkin mixture into the patty pans and place in the oven for around 25 minutes. They should be golden and springy when you press down their tops. Inserting a squewer will come out clean once they are cooked through. Remove from the oven and set aside on a cooling rack while you make the toppings
- In the same food processor, add the raw cashews and blend for around 4-5 minutes until the cashews completely break down and turn into a lovely rich, creamy cashew butter (you may need to pause the processor and scrape down the sides a few times)
- Add the lemon juice, maple and a tiny dash of milk and process again until smooth. Take out of the processor into a bowl and set aside while you make the crumble
- In the same food processor, add all the ingredients for the spiced pecan crumble and pulse briefly until the pecans are just broken up roughly, with some good texture left
- Once the muffins have cooled, use a knife to ice each with the cashew cream, then sprinkle over the pecan crumble and gently press it so it sticks onto the icing
- Enjoy straight away or store in a sealed container for up to 5 days
2 Comments
I loooove the sound of this. How much stevia did you use and do you think I need to play around with ratios of any wet or dry ingredient if I were to omit the sweetener in total? Thank you in advance!
Reply to Lyf
Hey Lyf,
I used a 1:1 ratio with the stevia because I was using a blend which could be directly subbed in for regular sugar. If you were using the stevia powder though, you would only need a very small pinch as it is much sweeter than sugar. Yes, I imagine you may need to play around with the wet/dry ratios a little bit to get them just right, especially if you took out the sweetener all together.
Let me know how you go with this recipe – would love to hear your results!
Tamika.
Reply to Tamika Woods
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