Pumpkin Muffins with Vanilla-Pecan Icing

As registered dietitians, people tell us that we’re lucky that our kids must automatically gravitate toward healthy foods. Ah, if only! In fact, we are constantly on the hunt for new snacks that our kids will love and that we can feel good about giving them, while not feeling guilty about eating them ourselves. So when we created these 82-calorie, healthy yumsters that our kids gobbled up and that actually have a vegetable (pumpkin) in them, we knew we had to share them with you!

They’re made with fiber -rich pumpkin, gluten-free flour, egg whites and pecans, so they aren’t shy of protein or nutrients!

Pumpkin Muffins with Vanilla-Pecan Icing
These muffins are great for an after-school or post-workout snack! They are easy to make and delicious to eat!

Makes 8 muffins

Ingredients:
Batter
½ c. canned pumpkin (pure pumpkin – not pie filling)
3 scoops – we used Optimal Nutrition (vanilla)
¼ c. gluten-free flour*
2/3 c. egg whites (we use Eggland’s Best)
1 tsp. baking powder
*Other types of flour may be substituted

Frosting:
1/2 cup pecans
1/4 cup stevia
2 Tablespoons almond milk
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of sea salt

Muffins:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a bowl, mix all ingredients for the muffin batter.
3. Spoon batter into a cupcake pan that has been spritzed with oil or with cooking spray to prevent sticking. You should end up with eight muffins. We used a muffin tin for 12 muffins but only filled eight of them and about 2/3 of the way high with batter.
4. Place in oven and bake for about 12-15 mins
5. Remove from oven, and allow to cool slightly. After cooling for about 10 minutes, remove muffins from tin and place in fridge to maximize freshness.
6. To maximize freshness, store leftovers in fridge.

Frosting:
1. Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Once muffins are chilled, add frosting.

Nutritional Information:
1 muffin
Calories 82; Fat 1g; Saturated Fat 0g; Carbohydrates 12g; Protein 11g; Cholesterol 13mg; Sodium 81mg; Fiber 1g

The Nutrition Twins are spokespeople for Eggland’s Best and love that they use a proprietary hen feed so that the eggs have 25% less saturated fat, double the omegas, and four times the vitamin D compared to other eggs.