More pumpkin pumpkin pumpkin!!! I made these in an effort to conserve energy in the morning and grabbing and going with my breakfast as a leave the house to board a bus. I learned awhile back that you can freeze muffins and then when you want to eat them, place them in the fridge overnight and it should defrost. Pop them in the microwave and you have got a hot muffin! How fun and convenient!! It’s like when I learned you can do that with bagels – one of my obsessions. More on that obsession some day. These muffins are packed with nutrition – pumpkin, quinoa, spices. It is an easy way to pack quinoa into your routine if you don’t want to cook it all the time. Quinoa is very high in protein so you can eat it to fuel your day! It is basically a seed, and it is fascinatingly related to spinach, beetroots, and tumbleweeds (I actually once had a friend tell me that he thought tumbleweeds were fake things that crossed in Bugs Bunny’s path in the cartoon…I basically choked in laughter.) Anyway, these are perfect fall breakfast foods! Enjoy them today!

Ingredients (Makes 12 muffins)

1 cup all-purpose flour (or whole wheat flour)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

1 egg

2 egg whites

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup pumpkin puree (I used Trader Joe’s Organic Pumpkin Puree)

1/2 cup cooked quinoa (1/3 cup uncooked quinoa)

1. Make the quinoa. I used a rice cooker – super easy. Place the quinoa in there and then fill with water just a bit over the quinoa. Turn on rice cooker and cook it!

2. Preheat oven to 350 deg. Mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, mix brown sugar, honey, eggs, olive oil, and vanilla.

4. Mix in pumpkin puree and quinoa with wet ingredients.

5. Mix the dry ingredients with the wet until just combined.

6. Fill the cupcake/muffin pan with baking cups and portion the batter out so it fills all 12 cups.

7. Bake in 350 deg. oven for 18 min.

8. Serve!