"These muffins are my favorite! They are also relatively healthy, made with whole wheat flour. They can be made vegan by replacing the chocolate chips with carob chips. I adapted this recipe from the Vegan Lunch Box web site"

Ingredient :

• 1cup canned pumpkin
• ¹⁄₂cup water
• ¹⁄₄cup canola oil
• 2tablespoons ground flax seeds
• 1teaspoon vanilla
• 1cup whole wheat flour
• ²⁄₃cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1cup sugar
• 1teaspoon baking powder
• ¹⁄₂teaspoon baking soda
• ¹⁄₂teaspoon salt
• ¹⁄₂teaspoon cinnamon
• ¹⁄₄teaspoon nutmeg
• ¹⁄₃cup chocolate chips or 1/3 cup carob chips
• ¹⁄₂cup walnuts or 1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Directions :

• Preheat the oven to 350º. Spray a nonstick muffin tin sprayed well with nonstick spray, or line the tin with paper muffin cups and spray the cups with nonstick spray. Set aside.
• Put the pumpkin, water, canola oil, ground flax seed, and vanilla in a blender and process on high for at least one minute, until light in color and well-blended. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the whole wheat pastry flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add the pumpkin mixture and mix well with a wooden spoon or large spatula until well-blended. If the mixture seems a little dry, add extra water. Fold in the chocolate chips or carob chips and nuts.
• Spoon the batter into the muffin tin, distributing evenly to make 12 muffins. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with sugar, if desired.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a cake tested inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then use a spatula to gently lift each muffin from the muffin tin. Finish cooling on a wire rack.