You may think that pumpkin is only for the fall, but I could eat pumpkin all year long. I made lots of my own pumpkin puree with the fresh pumpkins from our CSA this fall, and stocked up on a few extra cans, too… Just in case!
I’ve been on a bit of a quest to bake with whole grains and healthier ingredients lately. I love to bake, but all of the cookies and cakes around the house get to be too much! I was lucky enough to receive a sample of the milled golden flax from FlaxMatters.com, so I have been incorporating that into a lot of my baked goods. I’ve also started making bulgur wheat instead of rice, so I thought I’d try to incorporate that into a few recipes, as well.
To top it all off, I decided to go vegan with these muffins. I have some vegan friends who read my blog and I thought it would be nice to include some recipes that are suitable for them, as well. Plus, I want to have some vegan and gluten free baked goods available at my Food Blogger Bake Sale this spring, so I figured now’s a good time to start working on the recipes!
Most times when I bake, I start with a recipe and make my own modifications, but this is one of the few recipes that I really developed on my own. I was a bit nervous about it, but the muffins turned out beautifully! They are dense and moist, and make a tasty breakfast!
Healthy (Vegan) Chai Spiced Pumpkin Muffins
Makes 6 jumbo muffins + 24 mini muffins, or about 20 – 24 regular sized muffins
- 1/2 cup bulgur wheat
- 1 cup boiling water
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons chai spice blend (or 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup milled golden flax
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup apple sauce (no sugar added)
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease muffin pans or prepare pans with paper liners and set aside.
Place the bulgur wheat in a large heat proof mixing bowl, and pour the boiling water over the top. Stir gently and then let the bulgur wheat sit and soak up the water for about 30-40 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the flour, bakign soda, chai spice, and salt in a separate bowl. Whisk to remove any lumps and set aside.
After 30-40 minutes, whisk the milled golden flax into the bulgur wheat and water mixture. There was still about 1/4 – 1/2 cup of water that had not been soaked in mine. If there the wheat soaks up all of the water, try adding an additional 1/4 cup of water to the mixture. Once the flax has been incorporated, add the sugar, pumpkin puree, apple sauce, canola oil, and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine until the mixture is smooth.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir to combine, just until all of the dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling about 2/3 full. Bake for about 15 minutes for mini muffins and 35 minutes for jumbo muffins (I’m assuming regular muffins would need to bake for about 20 – 25 minutes).
Allow the muffins to cool slightly in the pans prior to transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
My Kitchen Addiction Product Review Policy and Disclosure– I received this product (milled golden flax) at no cost from the manufacturer (or a representative PR firm) for the purpose of testing and reviewing the product. Unless specified otherwise, I do not accept monetary compensation for reviewing or writing about products. I only review products that I have personally tested and used in my kitchen/home, and all opinions expressed are my own.
I eat pumpkin year round, too. I just love it so much. I have been waiting for the recipe since I saw you tweeting about it. They look delicious!!
these look delicious and make me seriously wish I still had some pumpkin on hand! yum.
These sound so good! Congrats on developing the recipe yourself!
Those look so tasty, vegan or otherwise! They would make a great breakfast or snack. Yum!
You know I didn’t enjoy pumpkins until recent years more so last year. Now I can’t get enough of them. Yum!!!
These look fantastic Jen, especially since I cuold eat pumpkin all year long.
I will take pumpkin anytime of the year. Especially these muffins
I vote for pumpkin all year long, too! Mmmm…your pictures are making me hungry!!!
they look great.
you should try using a traditional (or even made from scratch) Garam Masala to spice this. does it have tea in it? perhaps Chai is an inappropriate name?
I guess I wouldn’t even know that they are vegan, they look sooo tasty!
I love pumpkin, chai and a great healthy muffin any time of year. Nice job here, great ingredients!
I’m with you–I have to eat pumpkin year round or else I go through withdrawals. It’s one of my favorite things! I need to make these to shake things up for breakfast next week.
These sound wonderful but what is bulgar wheat?
Can anything else be substituted for it?
I made these and the outside is good but the inside is chewy. the toothpick comes out clean, and it isnt undercooked, it is just chewy,make sense? if I bake them longer, the tops burn. what did I do wrong??
Gina – It has been a while since I made these muffins, so I am not 100% sure what went wrong. However, be sure that the bulgur wheat has been well softened, and you also will want to be careful not to over-stir the batter since that will make it tough. Hope that helps!