Tasty Gluten free and Sugar free Pumpkin muffin

Muffins are such a quick and easy snack to make for children to enjoy. I also enjoy a tasty muffin with a hot cup of tea but eating too many can have a negative effect on your waistline! I have dieted in the past both successfully and unsuccessfully using low carb, low fat, low sugar, high protein meal replacements etc . But I wanted something different (and to be honest, easier). I was chatting to some friends whilst on holiday who are believers in the Banting meal plans. I looked into it and decided to have a go. Now almost 4 weeks later, I have lost a significant amount of weight without even trying- you heard me-not hungry at all. I have completely cut sugar, increased my fat intake, aim for medium amount of protein and as few carbs as possible. Yes it means I forgo rice, pasta, potatoes, gluten and anything similar to those but it is achievable, even giving up my Sunday roast potatoes!

Along the way, I have been looking at replacing the everyday things my family enjoys with gluten free and sugar free versions so that my children will grow up eating less sugar and benefiting from a lower carb lifestyle. So far they have enjoyed the substitutions and sometimes not even noticed. Incredibly there have been a few recipes I've tried that they have actually preferred!

These recipe caught my eye whilst I was looking for ways to use pumpkins during the autumn months. Autumn brings with it the deliciousness of pumpkins and squashes and I enjoy using them to make tasty casseroles and soups. This year I was keen to try pumpkins in my baked goods.

I found two recipes that we have enjoyed. One gluten and sugar free and the other using flour and a bit of sugar. Why not try both and see which your family prefer.

Gluten free Sugar free Pumpkin muffins

I came across this recipe on Pinterest and decided to modify it. The original recipe was gluten free, but called for a lot of honey and almond butter. Almond butter is fine and good, but I have trouble finding it locally, so just swapped it for regular unsalted butter. I hope you enjoy trying it! (If you have almond butter, you are welcome to substitute it back into the recipe)

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If you do try this recipe , I'd love to hear what you think. Remember to look out for more gluten and sugar free recipes on my blog as I reinvent my families favourite baked goods.

For those who can tolerate gluten and don't mind a bit of sugar, here is an alternative recipe that uses regular flour and contains sugar.

Pumpkin Muffins

These mini mouthfuls of pumpkin muffin goodness are easy to make and are a welcome change to bran or other everyday muffins. And they are a great way to use up the pumpkin scraped from carving your jack o' lantern!

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• half a cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 quarter cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• quarter teaspoon of ground nutmeg
• 3 quarter cup of wholemeal flour
• a quarter cup of sultanas (raisins will do if you don't have sultanas)
• half a cup of mashed, cooked pumpkin
• milk to mix

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C
2. Cream the butter and sugar til fluffy and light and then add the egg. Beat well
3. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices into the creamed mixture.
4. Stir in the wholemeal flour, sultanas and pumpkin.
5. Add enough milk to make the mixture moist.
6. Spoon the batter into prepared muffin pans or cases and bake at 180C for 15-20 minutes.

* These can be iced with a simple mixture of icing sugar and cream cheese but are lovely eaten without anything added. Check out the this alternative to buttercream icing here.