Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins

 I know I have been clamoring over summer for a while now, but my true love is fall.  Cool days, warm flavors, hearty food.  That is fall to me.  My husband will tell you that I have been dying for a bowl of soup since July, though everytime I have deemed it seasonally inappropriate.  But now it's September, which means two things: I can finally pull out my fall decorations (my house gets kind of lonely between 4th of July and Labor Day) and I can start putting pumpkin puree in just about anything I see fit.

These muffins have a whole wheat twist to the version I have made in previous years.  I got the original recipe from Ellie Krieger.  She had already lightened them up quite a bit but I took them one step further.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
Start to finish: 45 minutes

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 Tbsp molasses
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk (or 3/4 cup milk with 2 tsp lemon juice)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Whisk together the dry team: flours, spices, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.  You're probably thinking to yourself, wow, that's a lot of spices!  Way more than what the recipe would normally call for.  I don't know about you, but with the exception of pumpkin pie, I find that pumpkin-things often lack that pumpkin flavor.  And seeing as pumpkin really has no flavor, it's the spices that often lead us with more to be desired.  So, I kicked it up significantly.  It's pretty much impossible to overdo it with cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin pie blend when you are making pumpkin anything, so have no fear.

In another bowl, whisk together the wet team, starting with molasses and sugar.  When those are mixed together, add the oil and one egg.  Then add the pumpkin, vanilla, and the second egg.

Whisk the flour mixture into the wet mixture in two batches, alternating with the buttermilk.

Spray your muffin pan with cooking spray.  Remember these are muffins, not cupcakes, so those cupcake liners you pulled out can go back in the cupboard.

Pour the batter into the muffin tins.  The tins will be pretty full but that's ok.  You'll just get bigger muffins.

Bake these for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Pop them out of the tin and let them cool on a rack.

If you're like me and can't eat 12 muffins before they go bad, wrap them individually in saran wrap and freeze them in a ziploc bag.  Take them out as needed and microwave them for 10-15 seconds in the wrap.  They will taste just as good as when you baked them!