Pumpkin Pie Muffins

If your child is anything like mine (or perhaps this is the case with you), breakfast is a bit hit and miss at times. Some days he's all about a big bowl of (healthy) cereal or toast with peanut butter, but other days it's simply a granola bar or a container of yogurt (after much weeping and gnashing of teeth). But every time I make these beauties and have them on hand, breakfast is a (delicious) breeze.

Pumpkin Pie Muffins
from Ellie Krieger

Cooking spray
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-grain pastry flour or whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsulfured molasses
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together both flours, the baking soda, salt, and spices.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, molasses, oil, and one of the eggs until combined. Add the other egg and whisk well. Whisk in the pumpkin and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the buttermilk, just until combined. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling each one about two-thirds full. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of one of the muffins comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the muffins to loosen them and unmold.
Enjoy warm or let cool completely before storing in an airtight container in the
refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Makes 12 muffins