Monday Muffins – aka Dairy Free Pumpkin Muffins

We recently found out that Nate is Lactose Intolerant. Shortly after he turned 3 (in September), we noticed a few physical changes. Mainly, he was very gassy (from both ends) and his stomach always seemed to be bloated and hard. None of this actually bothered him though, so we didn’t think much of it at the time. Fast forward four months, and we realized that this wasn’t just a temporary thing. After sharing this with a few of our friends, someone told us that they knew another kid (around Nate’s age), who experienced the exact same thing. When his parents did some digging and meeting with professionals, they realized that it’s due to either a dairy or gluten sensitivity (or both). I honestly would have never thought of these to be the culprits, mainly because we don’t have any food sensitivities or allergies in our family, but we decided to check it out nonetheless. It only took one week of cutting out dairy and lactose from Nate’s diet that we realized that it was in fact lactose that was causing him to react this way.

Nate is no longer gassy and his stomach doesn’t get bloated. In fact, the best part about it all is that his appetite is back. He eats non-stop now! We honestly feel like the worst parents in the world for not taking action sooner, but we didn’t know.

So now that I have this new diet restriction to work with, I’ve been trying to make dairy-free and lactose-free meals and desserts. I find that baking at home (which I just started last month) is my best option as it’s hard to find delicious pastries in the stores that also adhere to Nate’s diet limitations. So when I recently met up with my neighbour and friend Maggie, from The Mag Pie Cakery, I put her to the challenge. I told her that I need something dairy free, somewhat healthy, but most importantly, something that my kids will love! Immediately she knew what I should make – her Monday Muffins (aka Pumpkin Muffins).

Here’s why she prefers to call them Monday Muffins:

“Don’t refer to these muffins as “Pumpkin Muffins” with little ears around. The word “pumpkin” in my house would certainly raise alarm bells and turn these tasty treats into a vegetable…I call them “Monday Muffins”, since I usually make them on Monday mornings so the kids have a treat after their least-favourite day of school.”

Here’s the recipe to these delicious, dairy-free, pumpkin muffins that your kids will love (all three of mine gave it the thumbs up)!!

Dairy Free Pumpkin Muffins Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 ½ ounces (3/4 cup) whole wheat flour
• 3 ounces (2/3 cup) all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ginger
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• pinch of cloves
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt
• 1 cup pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 2 eggs (room temp)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup sucanat
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• ¼ to ½ cup dairy-free mini chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life brand)

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees; adjust oven rack to middle position. Lightly grease/spray 12-cup muffin tin.
2. Whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, olive oil, honey, sucanat and brown sugar in a medium bowl until smooth.
3. Whisk together the flours, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl until well-combined.
4. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients using a rubber spatula until just combined.
5. Fold in the chocolate chips.
6. Using a ¼-cup measure, portion the batter evenly into each muffin cup.  Bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.
7. Let muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove from pan and set on wire rack to cool completely.

TIPS:

• Use the same ¼-cup measure for the olive oil and the honey (if you measure the olive oil first, you can avoid a sticky honey situation).
• Use a ¼ cup “trigger” ice cream scoop that releases the dough into the muffin tin without hassle.