Pumpkin Muffins Two Ways, Diabetic Friendly

 I decided to play with one of my favourite Pumpkin Muffin recipes the other day to see if I could replace the sugar in it with a sugar substitute suitable for baking, and replace the regular cooking oil with coconut oil, which is better for you.

Haha, I know  . . .  it's not hard to tell the difference between the normal one and the substituted one!

 

That's my fault actually.  I hadn't realized that when I added the melted coconut oil to the wet ingredients it would immediately harden into lumps and bumps.  I could reheat it because of the eggs, and so I just tried to break it into as small a bits as possible, before stirring it in.

My friend Ruth has since counseled me that this wouldn't have happened if I had brought all of my ingredients to room temperature first.  She also recommended blitzing them together in a food processor or blender.

Actually I thought the sugar sub ones were a lot tastier.   The coconut oil added a lovely flavour. But both muffins are very delicious.   I compared a bite of each and Todd compared a bite of each (without me telling him which was which) and we both concluded that while they were both really tasty, the low sugar ones were tastier!

Not only that but we saved a whopping 51 calories per muffin!  With 8g of fat per muffin and high fibre goodness, these are an excellent addition to your breakfast rota, or for a coffee or tea break treat or snack.

 

*Pumpkin Muffins, Two Ways*

Makes one dozen

Printable Recipe 

I adapted this recipe from an Anne Lindsay recipe from her book, "Smart Cooking."  A treasure mine of healthy eats.  I've been using it for years.  I adapted it to use a sugar substitute and coconut oil.  Both versions are delicious. 

Normal muffins:

42g natural bran (3/4 cup)

101g whole wheat flour (3/4 cup)

175g of granulated sugar (3/4 cup)

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bbaking soda

1/2 tsp salt

151g of raisins (1 cup)

200g of canned cooked pumpkin (1 cup)

2 large free range eggs, unbeaten

125ml vegetable oil (1/2 cup)

125ml buttermilk or plain yogurt (1/2 cup)

1/2 tsp vanilla 

Sugar Free Muffins:

42g natural bran (3/4 cup)

101g whole wheat flour (3/4 cup)

21g Splenda (3/4 cup)

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

151g of raisins (1 cup)

200g canned cooked pumpkin (1 cup)

2 large free range eggs beaten

100g coconut oil, melted (1/2 cup)

125ml plain yogurt or buttermilk (1/2 cup)

1/2 tsp vanilla 

For both muffins.  Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners.  Set aside.  Preheat the oven to 200*C/40)*F/ gas mark 6. 

For the Normal Muffins:

Measure all of the dry ingredients into a bowl.  Toss in the raisins.   Add the pumpkin, eggs,oil and yogurt.  Stir just to combine.  Spoon into the prepared muffin cups.   Bake in the pre-heated oven for 25 minutes, or until firm to the touch.   Let cool in the tin for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling. 

For the Sugar Free Muffins:

It is really important that you have all of your ingredients at room temperature!  (If you don't the coconut oil will solidify and you will get lumps and bumps.  My good friend Ruth counseled me on this.)  Whisk together the dry ingredients.   Mix together the wet ingredients (room temperature).  Add to the dry ingredients along with the raisins.  Stir just to mix.  Spoon into the prepared muffin cups.  Bake for 25 miutes, until firm to the touch.  Let cool in the tin for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling. 

Store in an airtight container.  If you are not going to eat them all within a couple of days, freeze any leftovers in an airtight container.  You can reheat in the microwave for half a minute when you want to eat them.

Calories per normal muffin:  185

Calories per sugar free muffin:  134

Grams of fat per muffin: 8

Fibre:  good

Vitamin A:  good

Post Script - One of my readers Paul  had noted that coconut oil might not be as good for your heart as formerly suggested:

 Regarding coconut oils,much of what I have read tend to suggest they are not necessarily as good for you as their promotors suggest. Coconut oil is about 90% saturated fat, which is a higher percentage than butter (about 64% saturated fat), beef fat (40%), or even lard (also 40%). Too much saturated fat in the diet is unhealthy because it raises “bad” LDL cholesterol levels, which increases the risk of heart disease. So it would seem that coconut oil would be bad news for our hearts.

I would use it under caution I suppose.   Perhaps a wiser choice would be either corn oil or sunflower oil!  The grams of fat would stay the same.

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