Despite their low calorie count they are light and fluffy, with chunks of pears and walnuts creating natural breaks and allowing you to tear the cake apart with your fingers. Try serving with a bit of butter and a good read.

In the last few years a new season has emerged for us to celebrate. The season of pumpkin. Similar to how November 1st is the day we are inundated with Christmas carols, now, right after labour day Starbucks announces their pumpkin latte and all edible goods from beer to yogourt are pumpkin flavoured.

This quick and easy pumpkin muffin recipe is a slight twist on the usual symphony of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. The addition of maple adds an extra warm dimension and a light sweetness. Light and fluffy, these muffins are perfect for a light breakfast and even better torn apart for a midnight snack.

So this recipe felt even more successful when it transformed into light and fluffy banana chocolate chip muffins. Secret Ingredient? Nutella. If you don’t have any, try substituting peanut butter and let me know how they turn out.

(If you are interested in a healthier recipe for banana chocolate chip muffins, check out the muffin archives.)

Now, this muffin recipe uses a food processor. I generally have a rule that if I have to use the cuisinart, then I must try and use it as much as possible. It has it’s purpose but I loathe washing that ugly thing, plus it takes up the whole dishwasher and I feel like I am treading heavily on the planet. Crazy I know.

For this carrot muffin recipe I also used the food processor to beat the eggs and wet ingredients before adding them to the dry. Saving a bowl, and making up for the extra dirty appliance.

“Class, raise your hand if you are sick of throwing away leftovers!?”

That’s what I thought.

Try using this sweet potato muffin recipe to use up your leftover roasted yam or sweet potatoes.

These muffins are spicy like thanksgiving, but not sweet and cloying like a heavy yam casserole. In fact much of the sweetness comes from the dried cranberries, so if substituting whole cranberries you should double the sugar.

Leftover celery recipe? Check. Leftover sweet potato recipe? Check. Do you have any other things which frequently go bad in your fridge? Let me know.

For now, class dismissed.

These extremely healthy muffins not only include a vegetable and very little fat but are whole wheat as well. Of course, by using whole wheat pastry flour they stay ultra light and are perfect for a little treat with tea.

This version uses rhubarb but use whatever local fruit you can get your hands on; blackberries and peaches would be lovely.

Similar Recipes:
Rhubarb, Ginger and Pumpkin Muffins
Whole Wheat Zucchini and Cherry Bread
Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins

Unlike blueberries and blackberries, raspberries tend to lose all texture and turn into mush when baked as filling in pies and crumbles. But they are perfect for muffins. In muffins, raspberries are light enough to float rather the sink into the batter.

What makes these special is the tart raspberries and light sweetness of the banana. Together the flavour is unbelievably rich and buttery. Grab a cup of coffee and make a double batch, you won’t be able to eat just one.

So typically it is actually when rhubarb is in season that I bake with strawberry and rhubarb. In these strawberry rhubarb muffins the rhubarb is local but the strawberries are from California.

Once a strawberry has been picked, put in a package, which is then put in a crate, shipped to my supermarket and made available for me to purchase it is a ghost of what it once was. Of course the upside is that I can restrain myself from eating it long enough to put it into a pie or in this case strawberry rhubarb muffins.

I suppose it isn’t all bad. Rhubarb is finally in season after all, and since I was burdened with an armful of it from my in-laws I am following up my pumpkin, rhubarb and ginger muffins with another healthy baked good. This time it is based on my whole wheat zucchini and cherry bread and my rhubarb and ginger compote recipes.

When I envisioned this the batter baked up pink, but sadly the powers of positive thinking don’t reach quite that far.

The key to getting this recipe right is to make sure you have a fairly dry compote; if it is liquidy strain some of the syrup out first. Don’t toss the syrup out. It makes a great mocktail when mixed with soda water, and while you are at it add some gin. If I can’t sleep someone should.

Rhubarb is still stuck in my head. I am sorry if I put it in yours as well, but I am likely to keep humming this tune for a few more weeks. I do have a big bag of it in my fridge after all.

These ginger and rhubarb muffins are extremely moist thanks to the pumpkin. In fact they were so moist and delicate you really can’t tell that they are healthy muffins made with whole wheat flour. We also had a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies in the house, but found ourselves eating these healthy muffins for dessert instead. The pumpkin and ginger muffin recipe is one of my favorites which I make all the time. I adapted that recipe to use here but instead used both ground and fresh ginger to really make the rhubarb muffins extra spicy.

Since I was using frozen chopped rhubarb I put it directly into the muffins. I just gave the rhubarb a quick rinse under water to defrost it enough to break apart the pieces.