Culinary Guides

These grain-free muffins lean on almond flour and pumpkin puree, so they bake up tender and moist without any wheat flour. Warm spices and a handful of dark chocolate chips make them feel like a treat, but they hold up as a real breakfast on a cold morning. Homemade puree from a roasted sugar pumpkin works beautifully in place of canned.

• 2 eggs, farm fresh if possible
• 1/2 cup cooked pumpkin puree, canned works too
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 4 tablespoons walnut oil, or almond or olive oil
• 1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 1/2 cups almond flour
• 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Mix the batter

1. Heat the oven to 325F (163C). The lower temperature keeps almond flour muffins tender without over-browning.
2. Whisk the eggs, pumpkin puree, maple syrup, oil, and vanilla in a large bowl until well beaten.
3. Stir in the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger, then fold in the almond flour until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Bake

1. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and spoon in the batter, filling nearly to the top. Smooth the tops.
2. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the tin 5 minutes, then move to a rack.

Grower's tip: if you are making your own puree, cure the sugar pumpkins in a warm, dry spot for a week or two after cutting them off the vine. The starches turn to sugar and the flesh roasts down thicker, which keeps the batter from getting watery.

Homemade pumpkin puree makes these muffins. Grow a sugar pie variety from our pumpkin seeds and roast your own.