Low Fat, Low Sugar Pumpkin Muffins

I'd be willing to bet that most people don't think much about pumpkin until it's served up in a pie.

But did you know that many nutritionists classify pumpkin as a "Super Food," and that it's ridiculously easy to incorporate it into all kinds of dishes that have nothing to do with pie?

 "Extremely high in fiber and low in calories, pumpkin packs an abundance of disease-fighting nutrients, including potassium, pantothenic acid, magnesium, and vitamins C and E. The key nutrient that boosts pumpkin to the top of the SuperFoods list is the synergistic combination of carotenoids.

Pumpkin contains one of the richest supplies of bioavailable carotenoids known to man. Indeed, a half-cup serving of pumpkin gives you more than two times my recommended daily dietary intake of alpha-carotene and 200 percent of my recommended daily dietary goal of beta-carotene." -- SuperFood Rx

I have two pumpkin-related recipes to share during this "Recipe Week," but I thought I'd start with the more traditional one: Pumpkin Muffins. I'm a big fan of pumpkin bread, and my old recipe contains a full cup of oil and two cups of white sugar. Whoa...that's a lot of fat and sugar.

But the recipe below cuts way back on those two ingredients, and the taste does not suffer at all. These are everything that a muffin should be: dense, moist, sweet; and everything that most muffins aren't: low in fat and sugar.

Make these for your kids' lunch or snack, or take them to the office for a healthy alternative to doughnuts.

Low Fat, Low Sugar Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups white wheat flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• One 15-ounce can pure pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg in a medium bowl.
• In a separate bowl mix the pumpkin, eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar until well incorporated.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and mix.
• Scoop batter into muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

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