Warning: these healthy pumpkin hazelnut muffins may induce visions of spending a relaxing fall afternoon wrapped in a warm blanket, drinking a soothing cup of herbal tea, and reading a good book. With minimal sugar, extra fiber, and heart-healthy fats, you'll feel good about eating them too!
Most pumpkin muffin recipes are delectably sweet and tender, but they are also more akin to dessert than breakfast. These healthy pumpkin hazelnut muffins, however, are a dialed-back version that are higher in fiber and lower in sugar than most muffin recipes, but still sweet and tender enough to please the crew. They are quick and easy to throw together, making them a healthy, convenient option to keep around for busy school-day breakfasts or snacks.
Healthier options for baking
Making baked goods like muffins and quick breads healthier is pretty straightforward. I still don't know if you could call them health food, but if you love muffins and want to indulge now and then, you can definitely make them healthy enough to eat in moderation. Here are the three changes I focused on:
Increase fiber
Increasing the fiber in these healthy pumpkin muffins is not only easy, it helps your body manage your blood glucose when you're eating something sweet. Simply swapping some white flour for whole wheat flour and blending in flax meal adds 5 grams of fiber to this healthy muffin recipe. You can also increase the ratio of wheat flour to white to boost it even further.
Cut back sugar
Cutting back the sugar content of muffins is easy too. In this case, it was just a matter of adding less and less sugar until I heard complaints from the peanut gallery (i.e. my kids), and then adding a bit back in. You could cut it back even further, honestly, or increase it if these muffins aren't sweet enough for you. But the amount in this recipe is ⅓ of what I used to add, which is a big improvement.
If you are comfortable baking with sugar substitutes such as stevia, you can use that in place of the white sugar in this recipe.
Choose a heart-healthy fat
There are fat-free muffin recipes out there, but they are generally dry and mealy and not worth the time. Unfortunately, going full-fat isn't really an option either. Cutting the fat back significantly is a decent compromise, and you could make do with even less than is called for in this recipe. It's also an opportunity to sneak in a heart-healthy fat. I found several swaps for regular butter:
- Organic cold pressed canola oil
- Avocado oil
- Grass fed butter or ghee, but cutting the amount in half
- Melted extra virgin coconut oil
Thankfully, all of these alterations are easily applicable to other muffin and quick bread recipes. I've made all of these swaps in both banana bread and zucchini bread, and they came out just as good as these pumpkin hazelnut muffins.
Ingredients and substitutions
All-purpose and whole wheat flour: I use ⅔ white flour and ⅓ whole wheat flour. You can use whatever ratio you prefer. Keep in mind that using all whole wheat flour will affect the texture of your muffin.
Ground flaxseed (flaxseed meal): I buy golden flax seed from Bob's Red Mill (RIP, Bob) and grind it myself in my food processor.
Baking soda, baking powder, and salt: I use table salt for baking.
Cinnamon, ground cloves, and ground nutmeg: Just a hint of spice gives these muffins a nice autumnal flavor.
Granulated sugar: This can be replaced with a sugar substitute like stevia if you prefer. Each product is different, so follow the directions on the packaging, and make up any difference in volume with additional ground flax seed.
Dark brown sugar: Light brown sugar is fine.
Applesauce: If you are using homemade pumpkin puree and it's thinner than canned pumpkin, leave this out.
Eggs: Use large room-temperature eggs.
Avocado or canola oil: See additional options in the discussion above.
Pumpkin puree: You can make your own, or use canned 100% pumpkin. Make sure it's not pumpkin pie filling.
Vanilla extract: Optional.
Hazelnuts: Look for roasted, unsalted hazelnuts. I buy mine at Trader Joe's.
Tips for the perfect pumpkin hazelnut muffins
Don't overmix your muffin batter. If the batter gets overworked with too much stirring, your muffins will be dense. You want a nice, tender, airy crumb. Stir just enough to combine the wet and dry ingredients, then fold in the hazelnuts gently before adding to your muffin tin.
Fill muffin cups ¾ full. Whole wheat flour doesn't rise as much as white all-purpose flour, so a fuller muffin cup will give you a better crown on your muffin. There's plenty of batter in this recipe to fill those muffin cups up to at least ¾.
Let the muffins cool before eating. Whole wheat flour is hardier and takes longer to absorb the moisture in the batter. Extra cooling time will allow them to keep absorbing moisture and make your more tender. You can always zap them in the microwave for 10 seconds to warm them up once they've cooled.
Prefer a pumpkin hazelnut loaf to muffins?
There is enough batter in this recipe to fit two mini-loaf pans or one regular loaf pan. I recommend greasing the pans since there is less fat in this recipe than usual.
Bake your pumpkin hazelnut mini-loaves for 40-45 minutes. Bake a regular loaf for 50-55 minutes. Remove when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Prep ahead and storage
These pumpkin hazelnut muffins reheat beautifully with just 10-15 seconds in the microwave. Store them at room temperature in an airtight container or sealed Ziploc bag. They should be good for 4-5 days, if they last that long!
Did You Make This Recipe?
If you make these healthy pumpkin hazelnut muffins, I’d love to hear what you think. I am always trying to get better at developing recipes, and your feedback helps me do that.
Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram (@parsleyandparm) and use #YourHashtag. I love seeing your creations!
Love cooking with pumpkin? Check out my pumpkin poblano corn chowder!
Healthy Pumpkin Hazelnut Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin/Cupcake liners (optional)
- Knife and cutting board
- Measuring spoons
- Whisk
Ingredients
- ¾ cup chopped hazelnuts
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup whole wheat flour
- ½ cup ground flaxseed
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup dark brown sugar
- ⅓ cup applesauce -see notes
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup avocado or canola oil
- 2 cups roasted pumpkin puree or one 14 oz. can pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract -optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375° F. Prepare a 12-muffin tin with baking spray or cupcake liners.
- Chop the hazelnuts. I use a Ninja Food Chopper Express, about 4-5 short pulses, then I give it a good shake and pulse it 2-3 more times. Set aside.¾ cup chopped hazelnuts
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: white flour, whole wheat flour, ground flax seeds, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices.¾ cup all purpose flour, ½ cup whole wheat flour, ½ cup ground flaxseed, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, sugars, applesauce, eggs, oil, and vanilla extract.⅓ cup granulated sugar, ⅓ cup dark brown sugar, ⅓ cup applesauce, 2 eggs, ½ cup avocado or canola oil, 2 cups roasted pumpkin puree or one 14 oz. can pumpkin puree, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold together with a spatula or wooden spoon until combined. Do not overmix. Add half the chopped hazelnuts into the batter and fold.
- Distribute the batter evenly between your muffin cups. The batter will be thick, and your muffin cups will be pretty full.
- Sprinkle the remaining hazelnuts evenly over the top of your muffins. Press them in very gently with your fingers so they adhere better during baking.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Need more servings?
To adjust a recipe for more or fewer servings, hover your cursor over the number servings on the recipe card. This will bring up a slider that you can move to the number of servings you want to make.
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