Pumpkin Bread Muffins

When I was younger, my mom was famous for making two recipes; pumpkin bread and zucchini bread. I was always told that pumpkin, zucchini, and even banana breads were desserts by my parents, and yet when I got older, I learned that people eat it as a breakfast!? When I realized that I could eat pumpkin bread for any meal, I knew I could do anything with it! Thus, the creation of pumpkin bread muffins! Damn, the things I believed as a kid. Thank god I'm Jewish and never believed in Santa Claus because I feel like I would have had a really hard time getting over that one.

Baking was always a little tricky growing up because we made a lot of Pareve recipes in case we were eating meat for our meal. Pareve foods are foods that aren't meat or dairy, and can be used interchangeably with either food group. They're like the interns of the food world. Overly agreeable and extremely easy to use! A lot of foods you eat you don't realize are actually pareve! Fruits, vegetables, grains, oils, these are the types of foods that are pareve, and especially margarine.

Side note, what I love most about growing up the way that I did is that I ate a lot of vegetarian (and even vegan) foods and didn't even know it at the time. Margarine is considered "vegan butter" nowadays, which is hilarious to me because that makes it sound much fancier than it really is. Margarine is not the best food in the world, from its taste to its chemical composition. I wasn't a fan of it growing up because we used it a lot as an alternative to butter in like every baking or cooking recipe. That's why I love this recipe, because that little bit of buttery goodness brings out the softness of the muffin! And also, butter makes anything taste good. When I was being very cautious about what I was eating, I REALLY tried to stay away from butter. Not only is butter a flavor enhancer, but it's a natural food and perfectly good in moderation. I'm not saying to be Paula Dean with it, but adding it in to your recipes helps bring out flavor and goodness!

With no oil or sugar, how do does it turn out so sweet?

My trick is maple syrup and unsweetened applesauce!

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Ingredients (makes 12 muffins):

• 1 tbsp butter

• 1/3 C pumpkin puree

• 1/4 C maple syrup (or honey)

• 1/4 C unsweetened applesauce

• 1/3 C plain greek yogurt

• 1 egg

• 1/4 C milk of choice (I used almond!)

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1/4 tsp baking soda

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 1/2 C AP flour

• 1/2 C rolled oats

Directions:

*Preheat oven to 350*

1. Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl

2. In a large bowl, add the butter, pumpkin, maple syrup (or honey), applesauce, plain greek yogurt, eggs, and vanilla and mix with a whisk

3. Add in the baking powder, soda, salt, and cinnamon

4. Add in the flour and oats and lightly whisk for about 1-2 minutes

5. Spray muffin tins with oil and scoop batter into them, filling them about 2/3 full

6. Bake for 25 minutes

Definitely recommend topping them with maple syrup and served warm!

These last for about a week for maximum freshness, but can be frozen for up to a month!