Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins

These healthy pumpkin muffins were moist, spicy, not too sweet, and had an almost velvety texture from the ground pumpkin seeds that was similar to baked goods made with almond flour. They were not crumbly at all. The muffins smelled very strongly of honey when they were hot, but the honey flavor was very subtle, letting the pumpkin and spices shine. They were perfect with no additional adornments and at room temperature—just right to grab for a quick weekday breakfast.

And they were great keepers—they were still quite moist 4 days after I made them. I froze some of them and when they thawed they were as moist as the day I made them. I will definitely be making these again. I used a coffee grinder instead of a blender to grind the pumpkin seeds. It worked beautifully, though I should have ground the seeds in two smaller batches instead of one big one.

These whole wheat pumpkin muffins were everything that I wanted them to be. They were so good that I ate them for breakfast, dessert, and as a snack. The whole wheat pastry flour combined with the ground pepitas made a nice texture. I pulsed the pepitas for about 1 minute to achieve the right texture though I might leave a few larger pieces of the pepitas next time for a little extra contrast in texture.

Because I used paper liners, they were very easy to get out of the pan and I did not experience any issues with them falling apart.

There are several things I really liked about these flavorful whole wheat pumpkin muffins. First, the mixture of whole wheat flour and homemade pepita flour for the base; second, the lovely fall flavor of pumpkin purée and pumpkin spice mix; next, the texture of the muffins; and last, the fact that you don’t need to add any butter to the mixture to achieve the deliciousness! I think the combo of oil and pumpkin purée really gives these muffins a lovely moist crumb, not to mention the slight nutty texture from the homemade pepita flour.

The use of honey and brown sugar as the sweeteners really gave it a nice underlying sweetness—I say this because the muffins aren’t overly sweet but sweet enough to let the pumpkin flavor shine through.

Overall, a lovely muffin that has me excited for warm, rich, fall flavors!

I’m one of those people who loves pumpkin everything. These whole wheat pumpkin muffins are extra fun because they also use pumpkin seeds. Grinding up the pepitas is easy and a fun substitution for something like almond meal. It helps to keep the muffins moist and offers a little more nutrition.

They were also not too sweet, which means you have room to enjoy one with a nice rich cup of chai. I kept the extra muffins in the fridge for a couple of days and they almost got a sticky toffee pudding texture.

Pumpkin muffins are one of my favorite quick breads, especially if they’re a bit dense and not too cake-like sweet. These deliver exactly what I love. The sweetness is kept in check with brown sugar and honey, the texture is tender but not light and fluffy, and they have a nice, dense texture that proper muffins should have. The idea of using ground-up pumpkin seeds for flavor and texture is a great trick and gives these a definite edge.

The fact that they are more nutritious than your standard version is a nice plus. I used my Vitamix to grind the pumpkin seeds. I blended them for 30 seconds total in 10 second increments, shaking the blender in between. This worked great.

Just a quick update: Sure these whole wheat pumpkin muffins are delicious the day they are baked but they also keep really well. I ate the last one (stored on our cake stand with a lid along with other baked goods) yesterday and I had initially baked this batch several days prior!

There’s nothing like a hearty quick bread stuffed with sweet spices in the fall. With the whole wheat flour and fresh pumpkin purée, these didn’t feel quite like eating glorified cupcakes like some muffins do. The texture was super tender yet the muffins stayed together and didn’t crumble apart while I was eating them. They would make an excellent canvas for the addition of raisins, walnuts, diced apples, or any other favorite fall mix-in.

The pumpkin seeds took about 60 seconds to turn flour-like in the food processor. I roasted a small sugar pumpkin by slicing it lengthwise, scooping out the seeds, and lightly brushing with canola oil before baking for about 1 hour at 400°F. The flesh becomes very tender. I allowed it to cool for about 20 minutes before scooping into a food processor and puréeing for 2 minutes until very smooth. I used about half the purée for the muffins and froze the other half.

The rest of the ingredients came together easily as a fairly simple muffin batter. The muffins stayed fresh in a Tupperware for about 3 days. I’m sure they would freeze well also.

This whole wheat pumpkin muffin recipe was easy to make and tasted good. I like the fact that there are finely ground pumpkin seeds in the muffins because it adds fiber and nutrition. I might play with adding something fun, like golden raisins, or reducing the seeds and adding nuts or even chocolate chips and a streusel topping.