With Fall Comes Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice {Recipes: Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal Cups and Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins}

Fall is here! The weather is a little cooler, the air smells a little sweeter and it's time to break out the pumpkin spice. Funny how my family and I are all craving something, anything pumpkin spice now that it is fall. If you would have asked any one of us if we wanted something pumpkin spice a week ago we would have said, "Eww no, it is still summer!" We are all still enjoying iced green tea, hanging out at the pool, and wanting nothing to do with a hot Pumpkin Spiced Latte. Then today hit, the first day of fall. Now everything pumpkin so sounds good.

With fall, comes school. My son was complaining that he gets hungry mid-morning and if there was anything that he could have for breakfast that would stay with him. The best thing I could come up with is oatmeal. The only problem is, he hates oatmeal. It's a texture thing, it's "mushy." After perusing Pinterest, we came up with baked oatmeal, specifically Chewy Oatmeal Breakfast Bars from 365ish Days of Pinterest. They have apple, lots of cinnamon and vanilla, and, best of all, they have a firm texture. They were a hit.

We just finished the first batch of oatmeal bars, and thinking about making a second, when both my daughter and I thought the same thing, that these would be really good made with pumpkin. This is the first sign that fall is upon us, we want something with pumpkin in it.

So here is our recipe for Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal Cups. It is based on the the Chewy Oatmeal Breakfast Bars from http//www.365ishpins.com/chewy-oatmeal-breakfast-bars/.

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal Cups

The Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal Cups are pictured above. 

Ingredients:

2/3 cup pureed pumkin
1/3 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut oil
3 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare a muffin tin with liners, or use a no-stick muffin tin. 
2. Stir together all the ingredients in a large bowl and make sure the oats are evenly coated. If the coconut is solid, it can be warmed so it is a liquid. This will make it easier to distribute evenly. 
3. Using a ice cream scoop, scoop the oatmeal mixture into the muffin tin. You will have to press the oatmeal mixture evenly into the muffin liners or wells. 
4. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown on the edges. 
5. Cool completely in the pan.

Yields about 11. 

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins

But wait, we're not done with the pumpkin stuff yet. The above recipe uses only 2/3 of a cup of pumpkin, which leaves about 1 cup of pumpkin puree left in the can. So we decided to make a batch of pumpkin muffins as well. Here is the recipe for the pumpkin muffins we made:

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins

This recipe is adapted from a recipe found at: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/09/25/recipe-whole-spelt-pumpkin-muffins-and-other-spelt-recipes/

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce or melted butter, cooled
1 cup pumpkin puree
Chocolate chips and/or cinnamon sugar, optional

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin pan with liners or grease the wells of the muffin pan. If using unsweetened applesauce, the muffin liners should be sprayed with cooking spray or else the liners will be hard to remove from the muffin (we learned the hard way). 

2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the whole wheat pastry flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. 

3. In another medium mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, maple syrup, applesauce (or melted butter). 

4. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Pour the egg mixture into the well of the four mixture, then mix together until well combined. Be careful not to over mix or else the muffins will be tough. Stir in about 1/2-3/4 cups of chocolate chips, if desired. 

5. Divid the batter into the muffin pan so it is evenly distributed. Bake until golden brow and a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. 

6. Cool about 5 minutes in the muffin pan, then remove them. Muffins can be topped with cinnamon sugar at this point. Dip the tops of the muffins into a little melted butter (about 1/4 cup). then roll in the cinnamon sugar.  

Yields 12 muffins. 

Note: In the picture there are both chocolate chip and cinnamon sugar topped muffins. I scooped 1/2 of the muffin batter into the muffin pan to be topped with cinnamon sugar after baking and stirred in 1/2 cup dark chocolate chip in the remaining batter. Half of our family like cinnamon sugar topped muffin, the other half prefers chocolate chip. Now everyone is happy!


Enjoy! Tomorrow we may just have to get a Pumpkin Spiced Latte...

Happy 1st Day of Fall!