We saw them for the first time last year and we weren’t sure they were real. It’s a beautiful vegetable garden near a lovely little house on a narrow little rural road and we’d taken notice of it before. As we drove past in late summer, we saw huge orange humps rising above the green leaves in the garden. It simply didn’t seem possible that they were real. We drove past on the way home, but short of stopping the car, getting out and walking over, there seemed to be no way we could get a better look. So we just shrugged and went on our way. This year, we drove past again on our way to a late summer beach outing…and there it was, this time a single orange hump rising majestically above the rest of the garden. Was it real, or was it some sort of silly garden decoration?
My curiosity was piqued enough to try to find out. I am not the sort to go knocking on strangers’ doors, so I simply did a little internet sleuthing. I typed in “giant pumpkin” and the name of the town and there it was in the local papers, a man who grows giant pumpkins in the hopes of winning prizes at the local fair. To be certain I had the right person, I looked up the address associated with the name. I am not giving out either, because the poor man is apparently over-run with people stopping by and knocking on his door to see the pumpkins! Suffice it to say, they are real, they are huge, and he puts an enormous amount of time and effort into growing these things. Wow. All I can say is wow.
That’s my little pumpkin story for today. As we head into fall, I thought I’d bring you my first pumpkin recipe of the year. I have always loved bran muffins and I think pumpkin bran is a delicious combo. But bran is hardly low carb or gluten-free. Brown flax seed meal has often reminded me of bran in both texture and appearance, and I thought it might make a wonderful healthy substitute. It certainly did the trick! These were delicious and gobbled up by the whole family.
Pumpkin “Bran” Muffins – Low Carb and Gluten-Free
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups brown flax seed meal
- 6 tbsp Swerve Sweetener, or granulated erythritol
- 1/4 cup unflavoured whey protein powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 20 drops stevia extract
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F and line 12 muffins tins with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flax seed meal, granulated Swerve, whey protein powder, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt.
- In medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, eggs, vanilla and stevia. Add to flax seed mixture and stir to combine.
- Stir in almond milk, then melted coconut oil, until well combined.
- Divide batter among prepared muffin cups and bake 28 to 30 minutes or until set and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
Notes
Nutrition
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oh my, i can’t wait to try these with a morning cuppa coffee!
xo
http://allykayler.blogspot.ca/
These look incredible Carolyn! I am a fan of anything pumpkin! 🙂
I’ve been thinking of pumpkin muffins recently – great idea using flaxseed instead of bran!
Flaxmeal adds such a great texture to these, they really look like bran muffins!
oh I just love pumpkin and these look wonderful
I just made these and they taste wonderful! The only problem I had was that they were a little “wet” even after cooking them an extra ten minutes. I think it was because I had too much liquid in my pumpkin puree. I had it in the freezer from last year and didn’t get all of the liquid out. I can’t wait to make the next batch and see if they turn out even better! I put some cream cheese and sprinkled erythritol on it. YUMMO!
Hmmm, good point about the pumpkin puree. Mine was canned and very thick, so I think pushing out more liquid would help. They are definitely on the moist side because of the pumpkin, but they shouldn’t feel wet. I may change the recipe to make a note of that. Thanks!
I am also having this issue of the wetness in the center that I can’t quite cook out without overcooking them. I was also using canned pumpkin, so I’m not sure why. I tried reducing the amount of wet ingredients and still had this issue. Considering adding a little coconut flour next time to help absorb it.
Do you have any suggestions? Can I omit the nutmilk completely or is it necessary for the rising?
Made these today and these are soooo yummy. I almost made 1/2 recipe of your delicious cream cheese frosting and put on top!
Thanks for all of your great recipes!
P.S. Also made your peanut butter cups today as well….almost very good!
LOL Interesting story!
I was wondering this about the Stevia? Do you know epwhy some recipes call for both Swerve and Stevia extract? I am still trying to understand the Swerve, splenda , stevia, ez-sweetz…. We have been using Ez sweetz drops (really tastes good and splenda with fiber. What are your thoughts?
Why both stevia and Swerve…because I like the combo. Because I personally think that they work well together to sweeten things. Also because I do understand that erythritol based sweeteners can be expensive. A bottle of stevia is expensive but it goes a loooooooong way. So for readers who don’t want to blow through their erythritol quickly, I think stretching it out with stevia can help.
Personally, I don’t like sucralose and splenda. I don’t like the way they taste. So I steer clear.
Hope that helps!
Oh I am sooo ready for these! Yaaaay for pumpkin muffins and pumpkin growers! 🙂
Yummy….these would go so perfect with the pumpkin spice coffee I’m drinking right now. Bring some over, will ya? 😉
I’ve seen alot of pumpkin recipes posted this week. Everyone must be looking forward to fall.. ( not me, I’m a summer person) .
I live in Bucks County , Pa and we have pumpkins growing on local farms, in our backyards , etc. They grow great here! Looks like a good recipe
I love the idea of using flaxseed meal instead of bran to make these muffins super healthy (and GF)! And it’s starting to be that pumpkin time of year again, so I’m enjoying anything and everything that includes this orange gem 🙂
These have my name written all over them! I am so excited about pumpkin season and can’t wait to pick up a few little ones to have in the apartment:-)
i could so use one of these right now
Oh, this one is a keeper, although it’s getting difficult to find unflavored whey protein powder around here. Will have to check out Amazon for it, although do you think vanilla might work? This is a perfect welcome-to-Fall recipe, IMHO. Thanks!
I adore bran muffins. My mom used to make them all the time. Totally love them.
another one I printed immediately after reading your commentary! Can’t wait to try and might just have to stock up on pumpkin.
The Matcha Frozen Yogurt Pops were FANTASTIC…and I’ll be doubling the recipe here on out…my DH looked at me eating the last one and said, “you’re going to eat the last one?”
I absolutely enjoyed it.
Yay for pumpkin recipes! I’m generally not a fan of bran muffins, but with the addition of pumpkin, I am totally on board.
this recipe is awesome…I can’t wait to try them!