Lisaopolis.comA Nurse's Journey to a Healthy and Balanced Life

This Halloween we carved two large sized pumpkins. We usually compost the pulp, roast the seeds, and cut all the peel off the pumpkins and freeze them in small cube sized pieces. I decided to do an experiment.

Instead of composting all the pumpkin pulp I decided to make some muffins with it. I used about two and a half handfuls of pumpkin pulp as well as the carved out bits of pumpkin (peeled of course). I created the recipe myself. I don’t usually completely make recipes 100% my own but this time I just got out a recipe card and pencil and started to design my muffins.

The muffins turned out fabulous! They were huge though! I expected to make 12 medium sized muffins, but instead I got 12 massive sized muffins in a pan made for medium muffins. Opps. Next time I will use 24 muffin tins if I end up with so much extra dough.

The muffins had a lovely texture. They were much more fluffy then most of the muffins I usually make. I was wondering if the fluffiness could have been a result of using pumpkin pulp instead of just the pumpkin.

Flavor-wise these muffins scored top marks in my books, the rum extract went really well with the vanilla extract, and chocolate chips that I usually use when I make muffins (the rum extract was also an experiment).

Here is the recipe

Pumpkin Pulp Pecan Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp rum extract
½-¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup (not packed) brown sugar
½ cup milk (sour) (use about a tsp of white vinegar with milk)
2 large eggs
½ cup pecan pieces
½ cup olive oil
About two handfuls pumpkin pulp
2-3 handfuls of cut up pumpkin cubes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowel combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix well. Add the chocolate chips, and pecan pieces and stir until they are evenly distributed.
In a blender add the pumpkin cubes, and pulp, eggs, vanilla and rum extracts, brown sugar, sour milk, and olive oil. Blend until smooth.
Add the blender mixture to the bowl mixture and blend until smooth. Place in prepared muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and the muffins are slightly golden.