Ellie Krieger's Pumpkin Muffins

If you haven't met Ellie Krieger yet, you're missing out. She's one of the highlights of the Food Network, and the title of her show, Healthy Appetite, is deceptive. It should be entitled, "Beautiful Delicious Food (and healhty too)." Ellie is a nutrtionist, but not one of those too-skinny calorie counters resented for an impossibly disciplined lifestyle. She educates her audience on the benefits of good ingredients. She doesn't just say "Do this." She tells you what the ingredient has to offer that will enhance your meals and your life. She uses these ingredients in ways that transform our favorite foods into better incarnations of themselves. I love her cookbook "The Food You Crave" and have made many of her recipes. Her version of sloppy joes are incredibly good. In addition to her work as a nutrtionist, Ellie is a fantastic cook who loves food. The combination of these two parts of her personality result in great food for us. Yea.

Today I'm sharing Ellie's recipe for Pumpkin Muffins. There's nothing to say except that they're some of the best muffins you'll ever have. The fact that they are truly good for you is just a bonus.

Pumpkin Muffins

· Cooking spray
· 1 cup all-purpose flour
· 1 cup whole-grain pastry flour
· 1 teaspoon baking soda
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
· 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
· 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
· 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
· 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
· 3 tablespoons unsulphered molasses
· 1/4 cup canola oil
· 2 large eggs
· 1 cup canned pumpkin
· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
· 3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
· 1/4 cup raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg.
In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, molasses, oil and 1 egg until combined. Add the other egg and whisk well. Whisk in the pumpkin and vanilla. Whisk in the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Whisk just until combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of 1 of the muffins comes out clean.
Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the muffins to loosen them and unmold. Cool completely on the rack.


These are great any time of year, but especially good on cold autumn mornings (many months away). I just couldn't resist bringing Ellie to you now.

Next blog: Notes from the Roving Baker, or "Baking when you don't have a kitchen!"

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