Celebrate Pumpkin Spice Season With My Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins

On Monday (which consequently was also National Pumpkin Day) I posted some of my favorite pumpkin recipes to social media and asked which you’d most like me to share the recipe for. And here it is! These have been a go-to recipe for me so far this fall and make a great pre-workout snack or addition to my breakfast. To me they taste like fall. I hope you enjoy!

Pumpkin Zucchini Muffins

Makes 12

Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ cup AP flour

• ½ cup whole wheat flour

• 2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice^

• 1 ½ tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp baking soda

• ½ tsp salt

• 1 cup plain canned or fresh pureed pumpkin

• ½ cup plain Greek yogurt (I like to use 2% milkfat in cooking/baking)

• ½ cup maple syrup

• ¼ cup melted butter or vegetable oil

• 1 egg

• 1 tsp vanilla (it is ok to omit if you don’t have any on hand)

•  1 cup grated zucchini* or carrots or combination of both

• ½ cup dried fruit of choice (I love tart cherries or diced apricots)

• ½ cup nut or seed of choice (I love pumpkin seeds to stick with the theme – be sure to save a few for topping the muffins)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375oF. Spray muffin pan with cooking spray or place liners in pan and set aside.

2. Combine flours, spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and set aside.

3. Whisk together pumpkin, yogurt, syrup, butter or oil, egg, and vanilla (if using). Stir in zucchini/carrots.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined/moistened. Fold in nuts and dried fruit. Batter should be thick.

5. Divide batter among 12 muffin cups evenly. Top with additional nuts/seeds if desired. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack and enjoy!

^or use 1 ¼ tsp ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp ground ginger and ¼ tsp ground nutmeg

*once grated, squeeze between paper towels to remove excess moisture