PUMPKIN-WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

Thanks to all my lovely bags of frozen butternut squash, purchased at low prices when it was in abundance last fall, I am enjoying muffins, soups and veggie mashes with some of the prep work already done.

These muffins are light, tender, moist and delicious with a mild spicy background for the roasted squash, white chocolate chips and toasted walnuts. If you make this recipe as is, you'll get 6 standard-size muffins and 12 mini muffins, which will freeze beautifully and keep you in muffins for a while. Of course, they're only going to be as good as the ingredients you use. Remember to get chocolate chips with no hydrogenated anything in the list of ingredients. I used Ghiradelli, which have absolutely no cocoa butter in them, but they're not too bad and have no hydrogenated oils. Anyway, they taste pretty good in these muffins. But on my next shopping trip, I am going to look for better chips. (I'm still crying that Wal-Mart discontinued Sam's Choice white chocolate chips made with pure cocoa butter.)

Pumpkin-White Chocolate Chip Muffins

Source: Judy's Kitchen

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

INGREDIENTS: 1 cup white whole wheat flour

1/2 cup quick (not instant) oats

3/4 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1/2 cup light brown sugar (OR 1/4 cup brown sugar + 1-1/2 tsp. stevia)

2 tsp. cinnamon

1-1/2 tsp. powdered ginger

1/8 tsp. allspice or cloves

1/2 cup good-quality white chocolate chips

1/3 cup toasted walnuts, broken or chopped

1 cup pumpkin puree (canned, fresh roasted or frozen/thawed)

1 large egg + 1 large egg white

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk

2 Tbsp. vegetable or canola oil

Topping: 2 Tbsp. sugar + 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Heat oven to 400F. Spray a 6-cup standard-size muffin tin and a 12-cup mini muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray; set aside.

In large bowl, combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, spices, chips and nuts.

In medium bowl, whisk pumpkin and eggs together till smooth. Stir in vanilla, buttermilk and oil and whisk again till smooth and well combined. Pour wet ingredients over dry and stir with a spoon till barely mixed.

Fill muffin cups to tops. In a small cup or bowl, combine topping ingredients. Sprinkle muffin tops with topping. Bake about 11 minutes for minis, about 13 minutes for standards. Serve warm, room temperature or cold.