Pumpkin muffins: A comparison

Up until last year, I never really liked pumpkin-anything. Then, around this time of year, I made pumpkin muffins for my advising group, and my eyes were opened. Next: pumpkin pie, with graham cracker crust and lots of whipped cream.

This year, I've revamped my recipe slightly. The old recipe produced muffins whose grease soaked through the muffin liners--delicious, but also dense. The new recipe produces light, fluffy muffins, that are less greasy, but definitely not less moist. I'd say they're an overall win! (Did I mention they've got less than half the calories?)

Love pumpkin? Check out the rest of the pumpkin muffin saga, including more recent recipes!

Both recipes yield 12 muffins. Continue reading for the calorie comparison, and the winning recipe~

Ingredient:           original recipe................new recipe
AP flour:              2 cups................2.25 cups
baking soda:        1t................0.75t
baking powder:    1t................0.75t

white sugar:         1 cup................1.5 cups
brown sugar:       1 cup................0 cups
eggs, whole:        4................1
eggs, white:         0................4
butter:                  2 sticks................0 sticks

pumpkin:             15 oz.................15 oz.
shredded carrot:   0 cups................1 cup

salt:                      1t................1t
cinnamon:            1t................1.5t
ginger:                  1t................0t
nutmeg:                0.25t................1.5t
allspice:                0.25t................0t
cloves:                  0t................1.5t

baking temp:        350F................350F
baking time:         20 min.................30 min.

calories/muffin:    517................210
fat (g):                  32.7................1
carbs (g):              53.4................46.6
----fiber (g):          1................1.5
protein(g):            5................5

Clearly, the new recipe is a nutritional winner, unless you're looking to increase fat consumption. (Although, in that case, I'd recommend making the lowfat recipe, and eating them with butter on top.)

Lowfat Pumpkin Muffins:
makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:
2.25 c of all purpose flour*
0.75 t baking soda
0.75 t baking powder

1 t salt

1.5 t cinnamon

1.5 t nutmeg

1.5 t cloves (optional)*

1 15oz. can pumpkin puree

1.5 c white sugar
1 egg
4 egg whites*
1 c shredded carrot*

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
2. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in a medium size mixing bowl.
3. Create a well in the center of the bowl and add pumpkin puree, sugar, egg, egg whites and carrot.
4. Stir gently until the mix is fairly homogenous.
5. Lightly grease a muffin tin, divide the batter evenly, and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes, or until the muffin tops spring back when you press lightly on them.
6. Cool slightly and enjoy!!

*Notes:
- To increase the fiber content, try replacing some of the AP flour with whole wheat. I'd recommend about 1 cup. The more whole wheat flour you use, the denser and nuttier your muffins will be.
- Feel free to use whatever combination of spices you'd like. I use anywhere between 1 and 4 teaspoons of cinnamon depending on my mood. I also don't have cloves right now, so I used just nutmeg and cinnamon and they're delicious. Cloves would probably make them better, though.
- If you don't want to use egg whites, just use 3 whole eggs instead of 1 egg and omit the egg whites.
- Don't have carrots on hand? No problem. You can replace this with 1/2 c of yogurt, milk, applesauce or any other liquid. You can also try 1 c of chopped apples or mashed bananas—basically whatever you have and need to use up!