Itsy Bitsy Foodies

I love pumpkin bread but I always feel a little guilty eating it because I know how much oil is typically in sweet breads.  I have always wanted to make a pumpkin bread {or pumpkin muffins, in this case} and be able to call it healthy.  I have always wanted to be able to say: it’s a serving of fruit/veggies, right?! and not have it be a joke.  I wanted to really get a serving of nutrient-loaded pumpkin or other winter squash without all of the extra baggage.  I think that I have finally achieved this.

I used my traditional pumpkin bread recipe {which is still a favorite for special occasions} and made some small but impactful changes.  I used a mix of yogurt and applesauce in place of the oil.  I added oatmeal, flaxseed and whole wheat flour to load the bread with whole grains, fiber, omega 3’s and other nutrients.  And finally I added some white and semi-sweet chocolate chips just for good measure.  The muffins turned out so incredibly moist that my family didn’t miss the oil one bit and we didn’t even notice all of the whole grains that were added.  {If you don’t want to omit all of the oil you could substitute half of the oil for the yogurt and/or applesauce.}