My daughter is always nagging me to make muffins that she can take for school lunches. I adapted this recipe from John and Mary McDougall’s fantastic book The Starch Solution. These moist, satisfying muffins are so delectable, I’m now under orders from Imogen to make them every week!

This recipe is a great way to get nutrient-rich blackstrap molasses – one of the only two sweeteners rated by Dr Michael Greger as healthy (the other one is date sugar, which is also in this recipe) – into your diet.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp ground flaxseed/linseed
3 tbsp water
1 3/4 cups wholemeal flour (I used spelt; gluten free flour would also work)
1/2 cup date sugar*
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup sultanas
1 cup steamed, mashed pumpkin (measured after it’s mashed)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce**
1/4 cup organic blackstrap molasses
1/4 cup plant milk

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake cases.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flaxseed/linseed and water together and set aside to thicken.

Sift the flour, date sugar, bicarb soda and spices together into a large bowl. Stir in the walnuts and sultanas.

Add the mashed pumpkin, applesauce, molasses and plant milk to the flaxseed mixture and mix well until no lumps remain.

Make a well in the flour mixture and stir in the pumpkin mixture, until just combined.

Spoon the batter into prepared muffin cups and bake for 30 minutes, or until they are golden and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Allow to cool completely before removing muffins from the pan.

Photography credit – Imogen Dawes

* I buy date sugar from iHerb. If you don’t already have an account with iHerb, you can use the coupon code UTE208 to get $5 off your first order.

** If you can’t find unsweetened applesauce in your health food shop, buy unsweetened apple purée – the kind that’s sold in the kids’ snack food section at the supermarket.

I make applesauce in my Thermomix by blending cored, chopped apples for 5 seconds at speed 8, then cooking at 100°C for 10  minutes on speed 2, then blending for 10 seconds on speed 10.