Oh boy – summer is ending and fall is beginning and you know what that means: Pumpkins spice season! Crisp, fall days, amazing display of colorful leaves, and everything is made better with pumpkin spice.
However, so many pumpkin spice recipes are land minds of bad eating – extra sugar, processed ingredients and even unhealthy fats. So we got a couple recipes together for you that you can make today that are not only good, but they are good for you!
These recipes not only taste great, but they are easy to pre-make and store so you can eat them when needed or on the go.
And don’t forget about the boost of adding flax seed! I live adding flax seed to a lot of my food, including strawberry smoothies, oatmeal, cereal and energy balls. It adds a lovely hint of a “nutty” taste and its a great source of fiber, omega-3 and fatty acids.
Pumpkin Spice Flax Seed Smoothie Recipe
A couple notes:
- You can leave out the banana and use a little extra pumpkin. Use 1/4-1/2 cup of pureed pumpkin in place of the banana.
- Yes, this recipe is vegan.
- Be sure to use pumpkin puree and not pumpkin filling. Pumpkin puree is pumpkin that has been mashed or pureed to a smooth and creamy texture. There shouldn’t be anything added. Pumpkin pie filling, on the other hand, is pureed pumpkin that has spices like cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg added to it.
This flax seed smoothie tastes like pumpkin pie. This healthy pumpkin smoothie recipe is wholesome enough for breakfast, but tasty enough for a treat. And, you can make a pumpkin spice smoothie in just 5 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 medium Banana
- 1/3 cup Pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
- 2/3 cup Unsweetened almond milk
- 1 teaspoon Maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons Flax seed meal
- 1 teaspoon Pumpkin pie spice
Blend smoothie. Place the banana, pumpkin puree, almond milk, maple syrup, vanilla, flax seed, and pumpkin pie spice in the blender. Blend until smooth and creamy. Top with additional ground flax seed for appearance and a little extra oomph in the flavor.
It’s about 262 calories, with 8g of fat, 5g of protein, 440g of total carbs, 34g of net carbs, 10g of fiber, and 22g of sugar.
Flaxseed and Pumpkin Muffins
Muffins
- 1 Cup Ground Flaxseed
- ½ Cup Pumpkin puree
- ½ Cup Erythritol
- 3 Eggs
- ½ Cup Butter melted
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla essence
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon All spice
- 1 teaspoon Ginger ground
- ¼ teaspoon Cloves ground
- ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
Topping (optional)
- 1 oz Cream cheese softened
- 1 oz Butter softened
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla essence
- 2 tablespoons Erythritol ground
Making the muffins!
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F degrees.
- Grease a muffin tin (it makes 9 muffins) or use muffin cases.
- Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
- Add the butter, eggs, pumpkin and vanilla and stir until combine thoroughly.
- Spoon the mixture into the muffin tin.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes until the tops are firm.
Making the topping
- Blend all of the topping ingredients together until smooth.
- When the muffins are cool, spread the topping over them.
Notes
Makes 9 muffins. Nutritional info per muffin – 216 calories, 20g Fat, 6g Protein, 7g Carbs, 5g Fibre, 2g Net Carbs
