Chai-Spiced Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins

I am a complete morning person. I love waking up early and getting my workout out of the way first thing in the morning. Then it's time for breakfast, one of my favorite parts of the day. Relaxing over a mug of coffee and some sort of baked good along with some fruit or a fruit smoothy. It doesn't get much better than that. I hate having to rush around in the morning shoving some breakfast down as I walk out the door, it just doesn't cut it for me. This means I always have something in my freezer, most often muffins or slices of a quickbread, ready and waiting for me. All I have to do is pull one out the night before and I'm done, ready for the next day. 

Last week the freezer was running a little low on baked goods so I decided it was time for some pumpkin muffins. Sometimes I go all out and bake something rich and decadent, but this time I decided to go with something on the healthier side and I baked up these spiced pumpkin muffins with oats. I really liked how they turned out, moist and full of spicy fall flavors. They are hearty and dense, most definitely not decadent, but a wonderful way to start a cold fall morning off right. 

These muffins are definitely not sweet, but they are incredibly moist and flavorful. If you're looking for something a little sweeter, I would advise adding some chopped chocolate or some dried fruit (cranberries or raisins, etc.), or even increasing the sugar a bit, there isn't much in them as written. I don't mind this at all, but others might need a bit more sweetness to really be happy. But give them a try and see what you think. Play around with the recipe and make it your own. I do that all the time, and it makes baking even more fun!

Chai-Spiced Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins
Adapted from Ambitious Kitchen
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• pinch of nutmeg
• 1 cup (8 oz) canned pumpkin 
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tablespoons olive oil 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 12 muffin tin with paper cups or spray with nonstick spray. If you use muffin cups, make sure to spray the inside of the cups.

In a large bowl whisk together flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add in ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and a pinch of nutmeg; whisk again.

In a separate large bowl combine pumpkin, brown sugar, egg whites, applesauce, oil, and vanilla; mixing until smooth. Slowly whisk in milk.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not over mix! Bake for 16-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of muffins comes out clean. Cool for approximately 10 minutes before transferring to wire racks to finish cooling.

Yields: 12 muffins