Recipe: Pumpkin-Oatmeal Muffins

NOPE, I'm not done with the pumpkin recipes yet! I opened a really big can of pureed pumpkin, so I'm going to keep making recipes until it's all gone. I found this recipe on the Eating Well website. I thought since muffins are slightly healthier than cookies or cake, I'd give this a go. And there are only three instructions: how could I mess this up?

Ingredients

• 3.5 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1.5 cups reduced-fat milk
• 1 cup unseasoned pumpkin puree
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• 1.5 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• ¾ tsp. salt
•  2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• ½ cup chopped pecans

Directions

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Stir oats, milk, pumpkin, brown sugar, vanilla, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, salt and eggs together in a large bowl until fully incorporated.

Step 2: Lightly coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each almost to the top. Sprinkle evenly with pecans.

Step 3: Bake the muffins until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

I did not use pecans, but otherwise I followed this recipe pretty closely. And since I was baking at my parents' house, my mom has a real cookie scoop that made it so much easier to fill the muffin tins! In the end, I'd say these muffins are okay. They are a little bland (this could be because the brown sugar was clumpy and some muffins may have been much sweeter while others left without). The texture is a little mushy, though this shouldn't be a surprise, since mixing oats and milk is the basics for making oatmeal. I think adding some craisins, and definitely some banana, could have enhanced the sweetness, therefore making them taste better. BUT if the idea is that these muffins are healthy, they certainly taste like it.

Here are my other pumpkin recipes from this fall in case you're looking for a true dessert to try:

Pumpkin Roll

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

Pumpkin Caramel Cupcakes

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread