These delicious pumpkin gingerbread muffins are made with dates, honey, and loads of spices . . .
A Healthier Pumpkin Muffin Option
Sometimes, on a very cold morning in fall, nothing is more comforting than warm gingerbread. But typical gingerbread is essentially cake. So I wanted to see if I could make a gingerbread that was a tab bit healthier and that didn’t have any refined sugar.
These gingerbread pumpkin muffins are made with whole wheat flour and pumpkin. They rely on honey and dates for sweetness. No other sugars. Between the whole wheat, the pumpkin, and the dates, they have a much higher fiber content than your typical muffin. We are all about the fiber in this household.
Pumpkins are also rich in vitamin A, vitamin C, and in potassium. Spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves) supposedly have lots of good anti-inflammatory properties. For those keeping track of such things, these come in at about 220 calories per muffin.
You’d never guess that these were meant to be healthier muffins. My daughter ate two in one sitting, and my son demolished one in about a minute. He would have had more, but we were too close to dinner for me to let him feast.
Pumpkin and Date Muffins
I started this recipe with a date and pumpkin muffin. Then I upped the spices to get the muffin spicy enough to taste like gingerbread. Because the goal was to cut down on the sweeteners as much as possible, I ended up increasing the dates in the recipe. I found the dates have the bonus of giving it a much richer flavor.
On my first attempt at making these, I did not think that the dates would work out. I chopped the dates (annoying to do, because dried dates are tough and sticky), cooked them with a little water to plump them up and soften them, and then mixed them into the batter. I liked the texture of the little date pockets in the muffin, but my kids really, really didn’t like the little brown chunks.
So I modified the recipe to blend the dates down so that there would be no chunks. Since we already have to cook the dates, I thought we might as well cook the pumpkin at the same time to caramelize it a bit and give it a stronger flavor. America’s Test Kitchen does this with their pumpkin bread, so I brought the technique in here.
And voila! My kids do in fact like the flavor of the pumpkin and date muffin. The dates give it a richness that sugar alone does not. Combined with the honey, the pumpkin and date muffin is sweet and rich and delicious. Add in some intense fall spices (ginger, cloves, cardamon, allspice, cinnamon) and you end up with a healthier version of spicy gingerbread.
So now, on to the recipe for pumpkin gingerbread muffins!
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Pumpkin Gingerbread Muffins
I took delicious pumpkin and date muffins and added lots of winter spices to turn them into hearty but delicious pumpkin gingerbread muffins. Rather than sweetening with traditional sugar or brown sugar, this recipe relies on a combination of honey and dates which give it a delicious richness which works really well with the gingerbread spices. They’re also made with whole wheat flour. You’d never guess they were meant to be on the healthy side – plus, lots of fiber!
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 muffins 1x
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
1 15 oz. can pumpkin
1/2 cup dates, pitted and cut in half (about 6 dates)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
Dry Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (pastry flour is a bit fluffier than normal whole wheat flour; you can substitute normal whole wheat flour but will have a slightly denser muffin)
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon ginger
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/8 teaspoon allspice
3/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon cardamon
1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Prepare the pumpkin date mixture.
In a saucepan, combine:
- 1 15 oz. can pumpkin
- 1/2 cup dates, pitted and cut in half (about 6 dates)
Cook over low heat until the mixture begins to gently simmer. Continue to cook on low heat for about 10 minutes stirring at regular intervals. The pumpkin will caramelize a little and the dates will soften during this time.
In the meantime, melt the 1/2 cup of butter and mix first with the 1/2 cup of honey and then the 1 tsp of vanilla extract. You can also prep the dry ingredients (step 4 below) if you have more time.
When the pumpkin date mixture is finished cooking, remove it from the heat to cool a bit. Use an immersion blender to blend the dates into the pumpkin until you have a smooth paste. (Alternatively, you could do this with a normal blender. If you need more liquid to make it blend, add the honey butter mixture).
3. Finish preparing the wet mixture.
Mix the pumpkin date mixture with the honey butter mixture and the 2 eggs until well combined.
4. Prepare the dry ingredients.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together:
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 tablespoon (yes, tablespoon, not teaspoon) cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 3/8 teaspoon allspice
- 3/4 teaspoon cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
5. Prepare to bake.
Fold the wet and dry ingredients together. Scoop the batter into a lined muffin tin.
Optional: Top each muffin with a pinch of oats and about 1/2 teaspoon of honey. This will just make the muffins pretty and taste a bit sweeter on top. That said, my son objects to the oats for some unknown reason and always picks them off.
6. Bake at 400F for 18-20 minutes.
The muffins are done as soon as you can press on their tops and they push back at your finger a bit (they don’t ooze or sink down when you press gently). Don’t overcook or they will be dry!
- Prep Time: 25
- Cook Time: 20
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Bake
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 220
- Sugar: 16.5 g
- Sodium: 200 mg
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 34.5 g
- Fiber: 3.25 g
- Protein: 4.4 g
