Pumpkin Muffins (dairy free, lower fat)

I stayed home from church after a rough night from the boys - coughing suddenly - who knows? Aaron seems to have no other symptoms but I think a runny nose is coming. Evan slept until 10:30am, so it's a good thing we stayed home.

So Aaron and I had some uninterrupted time together, and decided to make muffins! Pumpkin was his request, so I dug this recipe out and modified it so my dairy-allergic Evan could have some. And then after they were all baked, I remembered that he also reacts to eggs. I'm only slightly sleep deprived. So next time, I'll try something different. I'm pretty sure this recipe couldn't be modified with flaxseed substitute, which is what I typically do in my baking.

Pumpkin Muffins
2 eggs
3/4 cup white sugar (scant)
1 cup mashed pumpkin
1/4 cup applesauce (or more pumpkin)
1 T vegetable oil
1 T Vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup chopped nuts if desired

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray and lightly dust with flour, or use muffin papers lightly sprayed.

In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar until light, fluffy and pale yellow. Beat in pumpkin, applesauce, oil, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together dry ingredients. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! Stir flour mixture into pumpkin mixture gently, stirring until just mixed. If you are adding nuts, raisins, or anything else, do that now.

Divide batter among 12 muffin pans, and bake until the top is golden and springy. I kind of neglected to watch the time. We washed up the dishes we used (Aaron's favorite part of the kitchen projects) and by that time the muffins were done. If I had to guess, I'd say 10-12 minutes. These baked up super high, which makes me smile.

I ended up topping half of the muffins with a mixture of finely chopped pecans, butter and cinnamon sugar for the rest of the family. Definitely yummy, but not dairy free and there goes the lower fat, right?