Pumpkin Apple Muffins

Looking for a dessert that fits perfectly into your fall party menu? Look no further as these pumpkin apple muffins are soft, moist and loaded with the all the fall flavors. These aromatic sweet treats bursting with the warm flavors from the freshly ground cinnamon are not only utterly delicious but are healthy too. Made from whole wheat flour, these muffins are egg-less, butter-less and replace refined sugar with jaggery powder and do not have any artificial flavor or color. Studded with walnuts these spiced vegan pumpkin apple muffins are ready under 40 minutes from scratch and require just a blender jar to whip up the batter. Serve them as a mid-day snack or on-the-go breakfast, an after-dinner dessert or pack them in your kid's snack box or simply make them to satisfy those sweet cravings,  you are sure to win praises either way.

What is Fall? 

Well, Fall is an alternate name for the Autumn season. It is a season of the year between Summer and winter during which the temperature gradually decreases. It is often referred to as Fall in the United States because leaves fall from the trees at that time. In European languages, Autumn is the time of the year connected with the harvesting of crops. In many cultures, Autumn, like the other seasons, has been marked by rites and festivals revolving around the season's importance in food production. Animals gather food in autumn in preparation for the coming winter, and those with fur often grow thicker coats. Many birds migrate towards the equator to escape the falling temperatures.

Fall Produce

From September to November, the Autumn harvest brings a variety of healthful and delicious produce from squash and sweet potatoes to apples and pears. Fall fruits and vegetables are not just delicious, they are also packed with nutrients your body needs to keep your immune system strong before temperatures turn chilly. Though most of the fruits and vegetables are available in supermarkets year-round, seasonal produce is often better for our health, environment, local economy and also easy on our pockets. Apart from squash, sweet potatoes, apples , pears and pumpkins, following are the healthy fall veggies and fruits to look for in this season: beetroot, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, eggplant, kale, cranberries, broccoli, cabbage, fennel, figs, leeks, okra, peppers, pomegranates, turnips, persimmons etc.

We are into mid-September and officially it is the Fall season. Here in Mohali, also we have started noticing a pleasant cool breeze in the morning and a dip in the night temperatures. So, why not celebrate Fall? With this thought in mind, I suggested a Fall theme for our gourmet group, Foodie Monday Blog Hop for its #213th week. All the blogger members of our group agreed upon this theme and we decided to cook dishes that usually are a part of the Fall meal. Since apples and pumpkins are the Hallmark of Fall /Autumn, I decided to bake these utterly delicious Pumpkin Apple Muffins. Do check out the other Fall recipes by my fellow bloggers.
                                                       
About the ingredients:    
                           
I have used Golden Apples from Himachal Pradesh in this recipe. These are juicy apples with a sweet and mildly tangy taste. I have added grated apples in the muffin batter. You may use any sweet variety of apples in this recipe. The next major ingredient in this muffins is the pumpkin. Use a ripe pumpkin for this. We need to add pumpkin puree in the recipe. For this, we can either roast or pressure cook or boil the peeled and diced pumpkin and then puree it in a blender. The muffins are flavored with Cinnamon. I would recommend the use of freshly ground cinnamon here. All my bakes are with whole wheat flour as i have stopped buying Maida/ APF. You may use refined flour and whole wheat flour in 1:1 ratio. Jaggery powder lends a lovely earthy flavor to the bakes and makes them guilt free. Butter is replaced with oil in this recipe and believe me the mufffins turned out really moist and soft. You may skip walnuts or top the muffins with any nuts or seeds of your choice.The measurement of ingredients used here yield 6 muffins you may easily double the ingredients. So let's get started.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 6 muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (refer the recipe notes)
• 1/2 cup jaggery powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup oil ( use any neutral cooking oil)
• 1 large or 2 small apples
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2-3 tablespoon chopped walnuts
• Pinch of salt

Method:

1. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes. Line the muffin tray with individual muffin liners and keep ready. Sift the whole wheat flour, cinnamon powder, salt, and baking powder twice in a mixing bowl. Our dry ingredients are ready.

   2. In a blender jar take jaggery powder. Add pumpkin puree to it and pulse 2-3 times. next, add oil to it and pulse again.

  3. Now, gradually add the dry ingredients to the jar in small batches and pulse again. Scrape the sides with a spatula and blend everything well.

 4.  Add the remaining dry ingredients and blend the batter by pulsing again. Peel, core and grate the apple and add lemon juice to it. Lemon juice will prevent the grated apple from browning. Add this grated apple to the muffin batter and mix well with the spatula.

5.  Spoon out the batter into individual muffin liners up to 3/4th of its capacity. Tap the muffin tray 2-3 times to release the trapped air. Lastly, top the muffin batter with walnut chunks and transfer the tray to the preheated oven and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes.

  6. Keep a watch after 20 minutes as temperature may vary from oven to oven. Insert a toothpick in the center of the baked muffin to check for its doneness. If the toothpick comes out clean, the muffins are baked well. If the toothpick is sticky, bake the muffins again for another 5 minutes. Allow the muffins to cool down a wire rack before transferring them to an airtight container.

  7. Enjoy the healthy and delicious pumpkin apple muffins with your loved ones!

Recipe Notes:

• To make the pumpkin puree, boil the peeled, deseeded and diced ripe pumpkin pieces in enough water until they are cooked well. It will take around 6-8 minutes. You can check the doneness by inserting a knife or fork in the cooked pumpkin pieces. Next, drain the cooked pumpkin pieces and transfer them to a blender jar without adding any water and pulse to get a lump-free puree. 1 1/4 cup diced pumpkin pieces gave me 1/2 cup puree.
• You may use refined flour and whole wheat flour in equal quantities 1:1 or make the muffins entirely using whole wheat flour the way I made them.
• You may use any nuts or seeds of your choice to top the muffins.
• Use good quality freshly ground cinnamon in the recipe for best results 
• The above quantity of ingredients yields 6 muffins. You can easily double the recipe.
• Use ripe pumpkin for making pumpkin puree.
• You can use any neutral cooking oil in this recipe.
• I have used golden apple from Himachal Pradesh. You may use any sweet and juicy variety of apples in this recipe.
• The muffins remain good at room temperature for 1-2 days in an airtight container. You may refrigerate them to increase their shelf life by 1-2 days more.

If you ever try this recipe, do share your feedback with us in the comment section below.

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For more fall recipes, check out the following from this blog

• Poached Pears in Spiced Citrus Juices

                        

• Carrot Muffins

                        

• Beetroot Oats Cookies

                         

• Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

                            

• Moist Carrot Cake

                             

• Baked Beetroot Cutlets

                             

• Broccoli Cutlets

                             

• Vegetarian Broccoli Rice

                             

• Pomegranate Mojito Mocktail

                            

• Beetroot Oatmeal Pancakes

                            

• Beetroot Chocolate Cake