Nourishing yellow chickpea pumpkin curry simmered in cozy spices and served with fragrant coconut brown rice. This vegan curry recipe is packed with plant based protein and perfect for meal prep! I’m back again with another glorious recipe for #AKPumpkinWeek! Yes, we’re going savory again and I’m not mad about it. I hope you aren’t [...]
The post Nourishing Yellow Chickpea Pumpkin Curry with Coconut Brown Rice appeared first on Ambitious Kitchen.
These easy and healthy pumpkin chocolate chip muffins are light, sweet, and are ready in less than 30 minutes. Plus they contain no sugar or refined flour and are the perfect Fall snack, breakfast, or dessert.
I’ll be the first to tell you I am no baker. In fact, baking powder, baking soda, yeast, breads, and cakes kinda freak me out. All of them, yes. I’m much more comfortable with quick breads and foods completely unrelated to baking.
Nonetheless, I do enjoy EATING baked foods. Particularly during fall when pumpkin muffins and other baked pumpkin treats are everywhere. And well, I am a food blogger.
So, technically, this is kinda my job.
Ever since I made my Healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins and they turned out so well, I’ve had my eye on more muffin recipes.
And, given it’s pumpkin season, I have to be able to test as many pumpkin recipes as possible. Healthy pumpkin recipes. So, as you can imagine, these pumpkin chocolate chip muffins HAD to happen.
These pumpkin muffins are not your typical pumpkin muffins, they are – DRUMROLL – healthy pumpkin muffins. The chocolate chip pumpkin muffins are not only an amazing dessert or snack, but they are also healthy pumpkin breakfast muffins you can enjoy every morning guilt-free.
This healthy pumpkin muffin recipe doesn’t require refined sugar or flour. But the pumpkin chocolate chip muffins are so moist, sweet, and delicious. I’m sure you’ll fall in love with them. Because that’s exactly what happened to me when I took my first bit of these pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.
How amazing is that?
I already told you I’m not the best baker in the world. But even I think these pumpkin chocolate chip muffins are easy to make.
Let me walk you through the steps to give you a preview of the healthy pumpkin muffin recipe you’re about to try. Because, trust me, you’ll try it once you see how super duper easy it is to make healthy pumpkin muffins.
Create the “buttermilk” by mixing together almond milk and lemon juice. Let the buttermilk sit for 5 minutes then add the rest of the “wet” ingredients. Mix the dry ingredients in a separate mixing bowl. Combine the dry and wet ingredients together. Add chocolate chips to transform your pumpkin muffins into chocolate chip pumpkin muffins. Bake for 18-20 minutes at 375 degrees F.See how easy??
Not all pumpkin muffins are created equal, especially if you’re talking about store-bought pumpkin muffins or pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, which often contain high amounts of sugar and partially hydrogenated fats — not good. Actually, the same thing happens for all the store-bought muffins. The benefit of making your own homemade muffins is you can completely control what goes in them.
How To Make Muffins HealthyHere’s how I make any muffin recipe healthy, including these pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.
Replace all-purpose flour with an unrefined flour, such as spelled flour, buckwheat flour, or whole wheat pastry flour. This adds nutrients and removes empty, non-beneficial, and processed carbs. Replace any butter or oils with melted coconut oil or mashed fruit, like banana, applesauce, or pumpkin puree. Replace milk chocolate chips with dark chocolate chips. Choosing chocolate with a high cacao percentage, at or above 70%, means there is minimal sugar in the chocolate. Replace any sugar with either mashed fruit or a healthier, less refined sweetener, like pure maple syrup, coconut sugar, or raw honey. Read more on quitting sugar here.Follow these easy tips and you’ll be on your way to healthy, delicious muffins in no time!
Replacing the sugar in this pumpkin chocolate chip muffin recipe is really easy. Will the pumpkin muffins be sugar free pumpkin muffins? They will be refined-sugar free. However, fruits contain natural sugar so these muffins fall under the category of low sugar pumpkin muffins. You can call them refined sugar free pumpkin muffins!
How To Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins Without SugarHere how to make low sugar pumpkin muffins (or refined sugar free pumpkin muffins):
My favorite way to completely remove any added sugar sweetener in muffins is to use mashed fruit, like mashed banana, pumpkin puree, or unsweetened applesauce. The natural sweetness of those fruits makes up for not adding in any extra sugar. And adding banana to pumpkin muffins means you get to enjoy delicious pumpkin banana muffins. You get the best of 2 worlds and ZERO added sugar involved. Happy life. Am I right? Two other tricks for making muffins without sugar are to add in additional cinnamon and pure vanilla extract, both of which make the food taste even sweeter. Plus, adding extra cinnamon to pumpkin muffins is always a good idea. And healthy pumpkin spice muffins are a great alternative to those unhealthy pumpkin spice treats you can buy in grocery stores. As I already mentioned, you can add raw honey, maple syrup or coconut sugar if you want your pumpkin muffins to be extra sweet while maintaining their healthy pumpkin muffins status at the same time.
This healthy pumpkin muffin recipe uses one egg, but it’s easy to replace the egg if you’d like to make these vegan muffins. Flax “eggs” are an easy vegan egg substitute. They’re a great baking alternative for eating vegan and for those who have allergies to eggs. To do so, you’ll need to make one flax egg, which is made by combining flaxseed meal and water.
How To Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins Without EggsTo make 1 flax egg, combine:
1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed 3 tablespoons of waterStir well, and then allow the mixture to set for about 5-10 minutes. Then, use as you would a regular egg. This can also be done using ground chia seeds.
There you have it – vegan pumpkin chocolate chip muffins with a simple egg substitute.
We talked about the making of these chocolate chip pumpkin muffins. We talked about how healthy they are. We also talked about how to make them vegan pumpkin chocolate chip muffins with a simple egg substitute. What else is left? The baking part! But this part is as easy as all the other parts, if not easier. This truly is an easy pumpkin chocolate chip muffins recipe.
Here’s what to do to bake these chocolate chip pumpkin muffins to perfection:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a muffin tin with coconut oil. Spoon the pumpkin muffins batter into the muffin cups. Place the muffin tin in the oven. Bake for 18-20 minutes. The top of the pumpkin muffins should be golden brown. You can also use a toothpick to test them. If a toothpick inserted in the center of the pumpkin muffins comes out clean, the muffins are ready. Transfer the pumpkin chocolate chip muffins to a cooling rack. Allow the muffins to cool completely. Indulge into the freshly baked pumpkin chocolate chip muffins you just made.Are these easy pumpkin chocolate chip muffins? Yes, they are!
If you’re able to not eat all of these muffins in one sitting or have a bunch of sweet kiddos with puppy dog eyes, you’ll probably want to know if you can freeze muffins. The answer is yes! These healthy pumpkin chocolate chip muffins can be easily frozen to save for later.
How To Freeze Homemade MuffinsFollow these easy steps to freeze these muffins:
After baking the muffins, let them cool completely. Place the pumpkin muffins on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place the baking sheet in the freezer for about 1-2 hours. Once the muffins are completely frozen, place them into freezer-safe bags or containers to keep until ready.Frozen muffins will last in the freezer for up to 3 months.
3 MORE HEALTHY PUMPKIN RECIPESSince pumpkin is in season, you’re probably in need of more pumpkin recipes, am I right? I’ve got what you need! And, since I love pumpkin so dang much, I, of course, have more healthy pumpkin recipes for you. Because it’s good to have pumpkin recipes on hand during Fall, but it’s better to have HEALTHY pumpkin recipes.
PUMPKIN APPLE BREADFall is pumpkin season but it’s also apple season. And if you can’t decide between the 2, I have the perfect Pumpkin Apple Bread recipe for you.
Perfect for Fall, perfect for a clean eating lifestyle, easy to make and delicious, this Apple Pumpkin Bread is healthy, delicious, and comforting. Get the recipe.
FRESH PUMPKIN ICE CREAMIf baking delicious goodies is not really your thing, you should try this Fresh Pumpkin Ice Cream. It’s rich, creamy, and absolutely amazing.
You don’t have to buy pumpkin treats from the grocery store or to skip the pumpkin spice madness all together just because you don’t like baking. Eating ice cream during Fall is totally acceptable. And when the ice cream is pumpkin spice ice cream, it’s not only acceptable but totally appropriate. Get the recipe.
FRESH PUMPKIN PANCAKESTold you these muffins are amazing healthy pumpkin breakfast muffins. However, you cannot eat them every morning during Fall. You totally can actually but why would you when I have another Fall-perfect breakfast idea for you? And my idea is Fresh Pumpkin Pancakes.
These Fresh Pumpkin Pancakes are moist and have amazing pumpkin spice flavors. Pair them with pecans and pure maple syrup and you’ll have an amazing Fall breakfast to enjoy. Get the recipe.
The easy and healthy pumpkin chocolate chip muffins are light, sweet, and are ready in less than 30 minutes. Plus they contain no sugar or refined flour!
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and grease a muffin tin with coconut oil.
In a small mixing bowl, combine the almond milk and lemon juice and let sit for 5 minutes. This will create the “buttermilk.”
Add pumpkin puree, almond-lemon buttermilk, egg, mashed banana, oil, and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl, and stir together to mix well.
In a separate mixing bowl, combine the spelt flour, sea salt, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
Combine dry and wet ingredients and stir together.
Add the dark chocolate chips and fold in, stirring until just incorporated.
Spoon the batter into the muffin cups until each cup is filled almost all the way full.
Sprinkle a few more dark chocolate chips on top, if desired.
Place in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
* To replace the egg with 1 flax egg, combine 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons water. Stir well, and then allow the mixture to set for about 5-10 minutes. Then, use as you would a regular egg. This can also be done using ground chia seeds.
This post contains affiliate links for products I use regularly and highly recommend.
The post 30-Minute Healthy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins appeared first on A Sweet Pea Chef.
Looking for vegan pasta recipes? These 5 delicious vegan pasta recipes work for weeknights and are full of plant based flavor.
If you’re looking for go to plant based for weeknights, think vegan pasta recipes! Have you been avoiding pasta because it’s not a typical health food? Good news: a new study found pasta can actually help you lose weight. The Italian researchers found that eaten in moderation, pasta can be part of a healthy diet. And these vegan pasta recipes deliver big flavor with relatively simple preparations. With some advanced planning, most of them can work for weeknights too.
Alex and I don’t eat exclusively vegan, or vegetarian for that matter. But we’re always looking for delicious healthy dinner recipes to get on our table that are loaded with vegetables! And many times we enjoy the challenge of eating vegan recipes for dinner. Our style of eating is called flexitarian: we eat mostly plant based, but occasionally we flex and eat seafood or meat. Vegan recipes like are a weekday staple for us: they’re super flavorful and hearty leave us satisfied without missing any meat. So whether you eat fully vegan or flex like us, we know they’ll be a hit! Ready to get cooking?
1. Creamy Vegan Pasta Marinara
This Creamy Vegan Pasta Marinara is one of our old standbys for weeknight meals. It’s so simple to put together and the tangy, creamy flavor of the marinara sauce is out of this world good! Alex and I developed it based on a recipe that uses yogurt to make marinara sauce into a creamy orange sauce that’s a big like Vodka sauce. For the vegan version, we used soaked cashews and it’s just as good! This one’s 5 star in our book!
Weeknight Hack: The cashews need a 1 hour soak, but you can also can soak them overnight to make the prep even quicker. You also can mince the shallot and garlic in advance and store them refrigerated.
2. Vegan Italian Pasta Salad
Another fabulous vegan pasta recipe of ours is this Vegan Italian Pasta Salad. It’s basically a combination of an Italian salad and pasta: crunchy romaine lettuce is refreshing and contrasts against Kalamata olives, capers, and pepperoncini. There’s a also a smattering of colorful vegetables: tomatoes, zucchini, and red onion. Even though there’s no cheese, it’s a party in your mouth! This vegan pasta comes together in 30 minutes, which is perfect for weeknights.
Weeknight Hack: Since it’s ready in 30 minutes, this one is quick to put together. However, you could slice the romaine and zucchini in advance to make it even more speedy. (We suggest slicing the tomatoes the day of; make sure to store fresh tomatoes at room temperature.)
3. Can’t Believe It’s Vegan Spaghetti and Meatballs
Of all of our vegan pasta recipes, this one stands out! It’s based on a recipe I had on a winter visit to New York City, and I can still remember the cozy feeling of twirling the spaghetti as the candlelight flickered. Upon returning from NYC, Alex and I set about to create our own version of the vegan meatballs that I fell in love with. These vegan meatballs are made simply of oats, potatoes, walnuts, garlic and a few spices. And while that sounds humble, the flavor is absolutely outstanding! You’ve got to serve this one with the most high quality marinara sauce you can find (or even the Creamy Vegan Marinara above!) And you must sprinkle it with this vegan Parmesan cheese. It’s less like a block of Parmesan cheese and more like that shaker can you grew up with. We want to sprinkle this on just about everything!
Weeknight Hack: To make this on a weeknight, cook the meatballs in advance; you can keep them refrigerated and then heat them before serving. You also could make the vegan Parmesan cheese in advance.
4. Easy Vegan Korean Ramen
If you thought vegan pasta recipes were confined to Italian style pasta, think again! This Korean ramen recipe is one of the most delicious we’ve had lately, and it’s all about Asian flavors: gochujang (Korean chili paste), peanut butter, and miso make for a standout vegan ramen broth. Along with veggies like cauliflower, green beans and carrots, the noodles are topped with quick pickled cucumbers that have been marinated with sugar, miso, lime, and some black sesame seeds. The flavor is standout good! This recipe is from Aine Carlin’s book Cook Share Eat Vegan, so we can’t take full credit for the recipe. While the ingredient list may look a little long, it’s actually easy enough for a weeknight. And pretty simple as far as ramen recipes go!
Weeknight Hack: To speed up prep for a weeknight, you can make the quick pickles in advance and chop the veggies. This cuts down significantly on prep time and you can make the ramen in 30 minutes.
5. Peanut Noodles with Napa Cabbage
This recipe is an old favorite of ours and one of our go to vegan pasta recipes for quick weeknight dinner. The flavors are simple: peanut butter, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, and soy sauce, but they bring big flavor. This recipe also uses one of our favorite techniques for “cooking” greens without cooking: the cabbage is cooked by pouring the boiling water from the pasta over it. It wilts it down in a few seconds and eliminates the need for dirtying another pan. We’ve used this trick for “cooking” spinach time and time again, like in this 15 minute gnocchi with romseco recipe…which, you could even make as a vegan recipe if you omit the feta and buy vegan gnocchi.
Weeknight Hack: This one is so weeknight friendly, you don’t even need a hack.
Lastly, here are a few other tasty looking vegan pasta recipes from around the web. Happy cooking!
Amazing Vegan Mac and Cheese from Cookie & Kate Creamy Vegan Pumpkin Penne from Love and Lemons Vegan Roasted Red Pepper Pasta from Minimalist Baker Ditalini with Chickpeas and Garlic-Rosemary Oil from Bon Appetit Looking for more healthy dinner recipes?Here are a few more of our favorite healthy dinner recipes on A Couple Cooks:
Moroccan Spiced Cauliflower Soup Mediterranean Quinoa Stuffed Peppers Vegan Pot Pie with Sage Crust Vegan Pasta Marinara These recipes are…Vegetarian, vegan, plant based, dairy free, and naturally sweet.
A Couple Cooks - Recipes for Healthy & Whole Living
Being from the Midwest originally, we certainly have ra special place in our hearts for ranch dressing. When we were growing up, it was a common dressing for salads and basically the only way we would eat vegetables.
If you take a look at the ingredients of ranch dressing at the store, you’ll notice lots of dairy, processed oils, and other not-so-fresh ingredients. Let’s fix that and make our own!
This 10-ingredient, 1-bowl recipe is made with items you likely already have on hand: cashews, lemon, spices, vinegar, and herbs.
Easy Vegan Ranch Dressing (Oil-Free!) from Minimalist Baker →
