It's a Great Year For Pumpkin

While we don't have our usual abundant apple crop this year, we do have a great pumpkin harvest. It turns out that pumpkins thrive in dry weather. So, every day this week I am going to use pumpkin to bake a different kind of muffin.

Today's recipe is based on a pumpkin muffin recipe that I first heard about at Weight Watchers. I don't know if it originated with Weight Watchers, but we called them--

Weight Watchers Pumpkin Spice Muffins

1 package spice cake mix, dry
1 15 oz. can pumpkin
2 apples, peeled and diced
Mix everything together well. Place in greased muffin tins, dividing evenly into 24 muffins. Bake at 425 degrees for about 12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from tins and cool on rack.

Very easy! And low in points. Lacking fat and eggs, the texture is a little chewy, but they are tasty.

Somewhere I picked up the idea to top the muffins with chopped walnuts (1/4 cup total) and cinnamon-sugar or Splenda (mix 1 tsp. cinnamon with 2 Tbsp. sugar or Splenda). It's surprising how satisfying that little bit of walnuts is!

Another idea, suggested by my friend Debbie, is to add 1 cup (6 oz.) of cinnamon chips to the original mixture.They add a lot of flavor!

I wanted to make them using whole-wheat flour, so, in place of the spice cake mix, I used the dry ingredients in my mom's Buttermilk Spice Cake recipe.

In the past I've used whole-wheat flour from hard wheat and the muffins have been delicious. Today I used whole-wheat flour from soft wheat, and they were even better.

You might notice bits of red in the pictured muffins. That's because I didn't peel the apples. They are just fine that way--probably tastier! And I hate peeling apples!

Here is my version:

KSD's Weight Watchers Pumpkin Spice Muffins

2 C + 2 Tbsp. whole wheat flour (255 g)

1 C sugar

¾ C brown sugar

½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

¾ tsp. baking soda

¾ tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

15 oz. canned pumpkin (or 2 C pureed squash)

2 small apples, not peeled; (finely) diced

¼ C walnuts, chopped

2 Tbsp. cinnamon-sugar mixture (Mix together 2 Tbsp. sugar [or Splenda] and 1 tsp. cinnamon.)

cooking spray

Mix whole wheat flour, sugar, brown sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cloves, and cinnamon together. Because of the brown sugar, a pastry cutter is helpful. Stir in the pumpkin and apples until well-blended. Grease muffin tins with cooking spray. Divide the batter among 24 muffin cups. Sprinkle the walnuts on top of the muffins. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture on top of the walnuts. Bake in a 425°F oven about 12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the tins and cool on the rack.

Yields 24 muffins