Healthy Whole Wheat Spiced Pumpkin Muffins

Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Servings: 12
Yield: 12 servings

Description

These sweet pumpkin muffins use whole wheat flour, providing a healthier way to indulge in the spiced fall flavors we love.

Ingredients

1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup turbinado (raw) sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
4 egg whites
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup honey
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
1 tablespoon turbinado (raw) sugar
1/8 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, or as needed

Directions

1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
2 Place dried cranberries in a bowl with hot water to cover. Let stand to rehydrate, 3 to 5 minutes.
3 Meanwhile, mix flour, 1/2 cup sugar, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves together in a large bowl.
4 Whisk egg whites together in a separate bowl. Gently fold in pumpkin puree, applesauce, honey, molasses, and vanilla extract.
5 Create a well in the flour mixture and fold in pumpkin mixture. Mix until just combined. Drain water from cranberries and fold into the batter.
6 Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each almost full. Top each muffin with additional cranberries, a sprinkle of sugar, and a dash of pumpkin spice.
7 Bake muffins in the preheated oven until tops are no longer sticky and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out mostly clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.