Gluten Free Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Spice Muffins


Mona Ottum, MS, RDN, IFMCP, CLT, CD Essential Balance Nutrition L.L.C.

I’m a dietitian and I’m a food snob.  I want things to taste really good. But I also want them to be really nutritious and health supporting.  Let’s face it. Muffins at the local warehouse store are small sugary cakes. The only difference between them and a giant decadent dessert cupcake is the absence of frosting.  In fact, as a Functional Medicine trained dietitian, one of the most frustrating things to me is how poorly Americans eat at breakfast. When you have just gone 11 or 12 hours without any food, the first thing we typically put in our bodies is a big load of refined grains and sugar with absolutely no protein to kick start your brain (make neurotransmitters) or fat to flush your gallbladder and smooth out your blood sugar so you can make it through the morning.  This stable blood sugar enhances longevity and prevents diabetes and heart disease. Breakfast cereal, toast, bagels, coffee cake and those store bought muffins I mentioned will not get you through a busy morning or keep you well long-term. But these muffins will. And they are as delicious as they look!

Let me show you.  I analyzed my recipe and a popular and comparable pumpkin spice recipe.

So mine have more than twice the protein, five times the fiber and 1/3 of the sugar.  They have twice the calcium and five times the magnesium. They have 2.5 g of Omega 3 fats compared to 0.01 g for the typical muffins.  And they have 14 g of net carbs versus 41 g of net carbs. There is still a lot of debate regarding the nutritional value of a gluten-free diet among nutrition professionals.  But they are never comparing apples to apples (apples are, by the way, gluten free). This is a true, side-by-side comparison of a gluten free item and its regular wheat version.  The only thing it does not have as much of is folate because the government began heavily fortifying refined wheat flour with folate. Why? Because no one in America can be expected to eat the natural foods that contain folate, leafy greens (foliage, get it?).  Well I do eat leafy greens and if you really knew how important they were, you would too, but I digress. I hope you enjoy the delicious flavors and aromas of fall in these wonderful muffins.


Preheat oven to 375 F.  Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease/oil.

  1.   In a large bowl combine dry ingredients
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • ½ cup garbanzo bean or garbanzo/fava flour (may use coconut flour if paleo)
  • ½ cup GF oat flour (may use 1/3 cup Cassava, potato or Tapioca Starch if paleo)
  • ½ cup ground flax seed
  • 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp GF baking powder
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  1.  To a food processor bowl add and pulse till blended:
  • 1 ½ cups cooked pumpkin or butternut squash
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/3 cup honey
  1.  Soften and stir into dry ingredients
  • ¼ cup coconut oil
  1.  Add liquid ingredients from food processor to dry ingredients and stir just until mixed.
  2.  Fill the muffin cups until ¾ full.
  3.  Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.


Watch for more delicious recipe makeovers that are gluten, dairy, and soy free and heart, diabetes and autoimmune friendly.

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