pumpkin pie pudding muffins

These muffins are moist in the center with a texture somewhere between a muffin, pumpkin pie, and bread pudding. I like to use pumpkin wherever I can because it offers a good deal of beta-carotene and antioxidants. In this recipe, each muffin provides about 40 percent of your RDA of vitamin A! This vegan recipe doesn’t feel like it's missing a thing without the dairy and eggs.

INGREDIENTS:

MAKES 12

• 1/3 cup flax meal

• 3 tablespoons maple syrup

• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree(not pumpkin pie filling)

• 1 rounded tablespoon coconut oil, melted

• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 cups almond flour, preferably finely ground

• 1 cup coconut or palm sugar

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

1 Preheat the oven to 350°and position a rack in the center. Line a standard muffin tin with paper or silicone liners. (For this recipe, I always use muffin liners because the batter is moist and does not come out of even a well-greased muffin tin easily.)

2 In a small bowl, mix the flax meal with 2 tablespoons of water and the maple syrup. Whisk well and let sit for 5 minutes. Add the pumpkin, coconut oil and vanilla extract and mix well.

3 In a separate small bowl, mix together the almond flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just until well incorporated. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared muffin tins, filling nearly to the top.

4 Bake the muffins on the center rack until they are browning and moist inside about 38–40 minutes. (It is important to note that these muffins will be heavier and softer in the middle than most muffins and will not rise very much.) The muffins will appear dark because the batter is dark, but be careful not to let them brown too darkly.

5 Let cool for at least an hour so they can set up a bit.

Notes:

We enjoy these even more the next day.

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