These moist and richly flavored pumpkin muffins are a recipe from Lani Muelrath, and not only are they vegan, but they’re refined-sugar-free, using dates and applesauce for all of their sweetness!
Lani is an award-winning teacher, author, presenter, and top plant-based living coach. These muffins are from Lani’s new book, Plant-Based Journey.
Plant-based journey is not just a cookbook – it’s a 5-step guide to help you through the journey of transitioning to a plant-based diet. It’s full of amazing recipes and tips to walk you through the process. Scroll down to see the recipe, then further to enter the giveaway to win a copy of the book!
Lani’s Pumpkin Muffins
Prep time:
Cook time:
Makes 10 muffins
“This recipe is adapted from the Easy Pumpkin Muffins in The China Study Cookbook, by LeAnne Campbell. Just like LeAnne, I use whole foods for sweetening when I can, and I decided to make this recipe using date cream—with excellent results.”
*Heather’s Note: I found these baked up perfectly in 15 minutes, but it may be from the small changes I made (using regular whole wheat flour mixed with spelt) or my oven temperature.
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Date Cream Ingredients
- 10 pitted Medjool dates (about 1 cup)
- 1/2 cup water
Muffin Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 (16-ounce) can pumpkin puree (about 1 cup)
- 1/2 cup soured plant milk (see instructions below)
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Directions
- Cover the pitted dates generously with water and soak for a couple of hours or overnight. Drain, saving the water to use as part or all of the 1/2 cup of water in the recipe. Add the soaked dates and the water to a food processor or blender. Blend to a rich paste.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners (or use a silicone pan).
- Mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients, including the date cream. Add to the dry ingredients until just mixed.
- Fill the prepared muffin cups to the top and bake for 40–45 minutes, until the tops bounce back when lightly pressed. Muffins will be moist and flavorful.
- Remove from the oven and let stand for 1–2 minutes, then remove the muffins from the pan and serve as is, or with your favorite jam or homemade fruit spread. Store in an airtight container.
Instructions for soured plant milk: When a recipe you have calls for buttermilk or sour milk, this is easily replaced as well. For each cup of buttermilk, simply take 1 cup of plant milk and add 2 teaspoons of lemon juice or vinegar. In five minutes your plant-based buttermilk will be ready.
*Heather’s Note: While I am a huge fan of oil-free recipes, I usually add a tablespoon of nut butter to my muffins or cookies, particularly when there are spices (fats help temper the spice against your tongue). These muffins are totally fat-free, which is wonderful, but for my personal taste I needed a dab of almond butter when eating them to temper the wonderful spices in these muffins.
Lani is working her way around the internet this month on a virtual blog tour! I’m honored to have been one of the stops, and you can check out more recipes at other tour stops by clicking the listing on the right.
Giveaway!
One of you lucky people will win a copy of Lani’s book, Plant-Based Journey! Enter below by any or all methods available.
*Note: Contest open to residents of Canada and the US only.
