Autumn time is pumpkin time. Whether in a warming soup, hollowed out as Halloween decoration or my personal favorite: muffins. The perfect snack for the golden season. Today I show you how to make pumpkin muffins vegan!
It is impossible to imagine autumn without the pumpkin. We hold competitions for the biggest pumpkin, you can see it in every supermarket and at Halloween often as a lantern.
The healthy vegetable also tastes really great. In addition, it is more versatile than almost anything else.
Whether a savory main dish like pumpkin risotto, as a puree for a side dish, fluffy pumpkin rolls or as with the pumpkin muffins as a dessert. A real all-rounder.
The great thing about pumpkin as a muffin ingredient is the juiciness. The muffins are wonderfully juicy by the pumpkin and remain so longer.
Plus, Hokkaido has such a great, slightly nutty flavor. The coloring of the muffins is also brilliant.
Although the little cakes look as if they had been made with Food coloring* helped, but no. Everything is completely natural. The color of the pumpkin makes sure of that.
The extreme coloring of the muffins also makes them great at any Halloween celebration. Just work with a little decoration, then the normal pumpkin muffin becomes a cool Halloween decoration. For example, roll out black fondant thinly and cut out little bats. They look great in contrast to the orange muffin.
These pumpkin muffins are
- vegan and therefore free from dairy products and egg
- Suitable for nut allergy sufferers
- free from table sugar
- a visual highlight on any table
- long satiating
- a healthy snack against cravings for sweets
- also suitable for baking beginners
Table of contents
What ingredients do I need for the pumpkin muffins?
Let's take a quick look at the ingredient list. After all, you should know what you're eating and what ingredients you need to prepare. I'll also tell you how to substitute certain ingredients if you don't have them at home.
The pumpkin
Pumpkins taste good, have many healthy ingredients and are also low in calories! A dream vegetable. Botanically speaking, by the way, pumpkins are called "tank berries". Sounds nice, right?
Pumpkins contain a lot of calcium, potassium and zinc. In addition, they are real vitamin bombs (including vitamin A and vitamin C). Pumpkin varieties with orange flesh even have a high content of antioxidants.
Thus, pumpkins are good for the eyes, help protect cells and support the metabolism. And what hardly anyone knows, pumpkins contain a lot of protein. Super so for the athletes among us :)
I prefer to use Hokkaido for baking, because you can leave the peel on. This gives cakes, soups, purees and the like a beautiful orange color. And for you it has the great advantage that you save yourself the peeling, which can really cost a lot of time.
If you don't have a Hokkaido at hand, a butternut squash will do as well. However, the muffins will not be as bright orange.
Try this sweet potato squash soup!
The spelt flour
Spelt flour makes for healthy pumpkin muffins. It is considered more digestible and healthier than white flour. I use plain spelt flour for baking, but you can also replace half with whole wheat flour.
This makes the muffins a little darker in color. In terms of taste, little changes. Except that they can be classified as even healthier. Because whole wheat flour is known to contain more nutrients and makes you feel fuller for longer.
If you want to bake the muffins gluten-free, you can try to replace the spelt flour with buckwheat flour. But importantly, you need something to bind the dough. I reach in such a case to Psyllium husks*. So sprinkle about 1 tablespoon into 2 tablespoons of water and then stir into the batter. I haven't tried it with this recipe yet though!
The coconut blossom sugar
Who ever Coconut blossom sugar* knows that it has a delicious caramel flavor. The sugar from the coconut blossom is considered healthier because it does not cause blood sugar levels to rise so quickly.
If you do not have one at hand, you can also simply Erythritol* or Birch sugar* use. It should be replaceable 1:1. It's best to check Google again for the exchange ratio.
The liquids
So that the dough sticks together, we need of course also a liquid part. Because I want the pumpkin muffins remain vegan, of course, no butter and eggs are used. Not even margarine. Rather, the mix of almond milk and oil ensures that the dough is very fluffy.
If you want to bake egg free more often, in each recipe you can use simply replace the egg with applesauce.
The cashews
As a nut allergy sufferer, I am not left with many nuts that I can use without problems. Therefore I like to use Cashews*. If you are not allergic, you can also try hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds and pistachios (unsalted!) for a splash of color.
By the way: The inspiration for this recipe I have from the cookbook Sweet & Healthy: Vegan Baking without Sugar*, lactose, eggs and wheat, which you can order from Amazon. It contains over 60 delicious sweet and vegan recipes that are very easy to prepare. Without a lot of frills or fancy ingredients.
The cookbook is good for vegan cooking beginners and advanced. If you want to bring a little more variety into your sweet meals and desserts, then I recommend the book to you.
But now let's get to the cupcakes :)
Recipe: Vegan Hokkaido Muffins with Cashews
Here you will find a very detailed description for this recipe with exact step-by-step instructions. It's perfect for those who have never baked vegan before, or for those who don't know much about muffins in general. If you bake regularly, you'll find a short version of the recipe at the end of the post - including exact nutritional information per piece.
Ingredients
- 350 g Hokkaido
- 200 g plain spelt flour
- 1 Pkg Baking powder*
- 50 g Coconut blossom sugar*
- 1 vanilla pod
- Cinnamon*, Cardamom*
- 150 ml almond milk
- 100 g vegetable oil
- 100 g Cashews* (or other nuts)
Also: muffin tin, muffin paper, mixer, Blender*, knife, board, bowls.
Preparation
Before you start, preheat the oven to 180° top-bottom heat.
Prepare Hokkaido
Wash the pumpkin. Cut it in half and remove the seeds with a tablespoon. Cut the Hokkaido with peel into cubes - the smaller, the faster it is cooked.
Put the pumpkin in boiling water and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Check with a knife if it is already soft.
Pour off the water and mix the pumpkin with a Blender* until you get a fine puree. Alternatively, you can use a smoothie maker, a food processor or a potato masher.
Mix solid ingredients
Grab a second bowl. In it, mix flour, Baking powder* and Coconut blossom sugar*.
Halve the vanilla bean lengthwise. Scrape it out with a knife. Add the vanilla pulp to the flour. Also add a pinch of Cinnamon* and Cardamom* add. Overdo it with the Cinnamon* but not because the muffins should have more of a vanilla flavor.
Mix ingredients
By now, the pumpkin puree should have cooled down a bit. Mix the flour mixture with the pumpkin. This works very well with a spoon or with a mixer.
Add almond milk and the vegetable oil. Mix the ingredients and let them infuse briefly.
Chop the Cashews* roughly - or finely, as you prefer. Fold them into the batter with a spoon.
Bake pumpkin muffins
Fill the batter into muffin cups. Bake the muffins for about 25 minutes at 180° top-lower heat.
Tip: It's best to let the muffins cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes after baking, then they won't break as easily.
Fancy a Gugelhupf? Click here for the Hokkaido cake!
How can I refine Hokkaido muffins?
You're not quite happy with the recipe yet? No problem. Tastes are different. I have compiled a list of ingredients that go wonderfully in the muffin batter:
- Xucker chocolate drops* or normal chocolate drops
- Raisins or cranberries
- Coconut milk instead of almond milk
- Nutmeg and allspice
- Orange peel abrasion
- Orange juice
- Topping of (vegan) cream cheese with Cinnamon* and Agave syrup*
- 2-3 tablespoons liquid coffee
- Gingerbread spice* instead of vanilla
- 2-3 frozen berries per muffin
- 1 shot rum
As you can see, the possibilities are almost endless. Just try out what you like. Because the pumpkin muffin dough is vegan, you can also taste it in raw state without hesitation.
What is the shelf life of the muffins?
Since this recipe is completely preservative free and uses fresh pumpkin puree, you should use up the muffins within 3 days. Because they are very moist, mold can form at high temperatures. Therefore, it is best to store them in the refrigerator.
To do this, put them in a muffin box and seal tightly so they don't dry out. If you have baked too much, you can freeze these delicacies. Then let them thaw slowly so that they stay nice and moist - not in the microwave! In the freezer you can freeze the little delicacies for half a year.
How can I tell the difference between poisonous ornamental pumpkins and edible pumpkins?
Pumpkin is one of the world's oldest crops! Yet, some varieties are poisonous to humans. There are five species of edible pumpkin, from which every other edible variety.
The goal of pumpkin breeding is to obtain fruits without cucurbitacins. The bitter substances are toxic and can cause vomiting, diarrhea or headaches.
Accidents can cause the emergence of pumpkins that look like edible, but still contain the poisonous bitter substances. Therefore, taste a piece of the pumpkin each time you are not sure whether edible or not. If the piece is bitter, spit it out again and do not use the pumpkin for cooking. Here you will find a list of all edible pumpkins.
Pumpkin muffins vegan
Ingredients
- 350 g Hokkaido
- 200 g Spelt flour
- 1 Pkg Baking powder
- 50 g Coconut blossom sugar
- 1 Vanilla bean
- Cinnamon, cardamom
- 150 ml Almond milk
- 100 ml Vegetable oil
- 100 g Cashews
Anleitung
- Cut the pumpkin into small pieces and cook it in boiling water. After about 10 minutes it should be soft.350 g Hokkaido
- Pour off the water and blend the pumpkin into a creamy mass. This works with a smoothie maker, a blender or if necessary with the potato masher.
- Mix the flour with the baking powder and the coconut blossom sugar.200 g spelt flour, 1 pkg baking powder, 50 g coconut blossom sugar
- Scrape out the vanilla bean and add it to the flour mix along with a pinch of cinnamon and cardamom.1 vanilla pod
- Now the pumpkin should already be somewhat cooled. Mix the flour mixture the pumpkin through. Finally, add almond milk and vegetable oil.150 ml almond milk, 100 ml vegetable oil
- If you like you can add a little maple syrup.
- Chop the cashews and stir them into the batter.100 g cashews
- Fill the batter into muffin cups. Your pumpkin muffins need about 25 minutes at 180 ° upper-lower heat.
Nährwerte
Our conclusion
Vegan pumpkin muffins are very quick to prepare, taste juicy and look wonderful orange. Ran to the pumpkins! :) Hope you enjoy these healthy muffins as much as I do! Have fun trying them out, good luck and enjoy!
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