Muffin madness

I made a couple of different kinds of muffins for a post workout chat with my Wasatch Back teammates. They were both easy to whip up and quite tasty. I made the pumpkin ones early that morning in the dark, and didn't notice the little lump of not quite mixed in flour until after I downloaded the picture. Eh, oh well. I think they were both better the second day as the moisture improved and the flavors settled, making them ideal for a make ahead sort of a treat to bring to the office or a quick breakfast.

Both recipes are from Taste of Home, but I modified them a bit to make them a little healthier. I just can't justify 15+ grams of fat per muffin. I am posting them the way I made them.

Pumpkin Chip Muffins

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup oil
1 1/2 cups flour
1 t. each baking soda and powder
1/2 t. each cinnamon and cloves
1 t. salt
1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
2 T. ground flaxseed (optional)

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, pumpkin, oil and applesauce until smooth. Combine the dry ingredients and stir into the pumpkin mixture until smooth. Fold in the chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake at 400 degrees for 16-20 minutes, or until muffins test done with a toothpick. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Yield - 12 muffins.

Spiced Pear Raisin Nut Muffins

2 cups flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 t. ground ginger
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
1/8 t. nutmeg
1/8 t. cloves
1 egg
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 T. molasses
1 1/2 cups finley chopped peeled pears
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup chopped pecans
2 T. ground flaxseed (optional)

In a large bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. In another bowl, beat the wet ingredients until smooth. Fold into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in pears, raisins and walnuts. Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes, or until muffins test done.

This recipe yielded 15 muffins, which was a little annoying. As you can see from the picture, they came out smaller than the pumpkin ones so I think I could have added a bit more batter to all of the cups and had 12 biggerish muffins instead of having two pans. If you do have a second pan with just a few muffins, fill the cups next to them with a half inch or so of water and they'll bake more evenly. The three odd muffins actually came out the most rounded and evenly baked of the whole batch because of that.

The flaxseed addition is a great way to boost your nutrition. It doesn't effect the texture at all, and I like sneaking it in to my kids' food when they aren't looking. Be sure to store it in the freezer for maximum freshness.