Pumpkin Pucks

Stacy is one heck of a baking savant. Seriously. While I enjoy baking and have read books and recipes and taken classes to get good at it, Stacy has no academic background in baking. Some might see this as a disadvantage, but not her. She just plows on ahead, breaking all the baking rules and formulas as she goes. Some of the stuff she tries makes me cringe and I’ve cautioned her that some of her creations couldn’t possibly work. Yet somehow she defies all logic and makes it work.

What follows is the result of Stacy declaring that she wanted to make a “muffin that was more like pumpkin pie.” And by “like pumpkin pie,” she meant texture, not just flavor. Impossible, I said. I was very wrong. Somehow, she invented a muffin that is almost creamy on the inside and quite dense. This is a keeper. That night, I wanted to eat ALL of them and you will too. Best of all, minimal added sweeteners.

Pumpkin Pucks

Ingredients

1 C pumpkin puree (we use Elana’s technique)
1 C almond butter
1/4 C honey
2 Tbsp maple syrup
2 eggs
1/3 C almond flour
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
Optional: 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips or chopped nuts for decorating

Instructions

  1. ♥ With electric mixer or stand mixer, whip pumpkin and almond butter together until thoroughly combined
  2. ♥ Add honey and syrup and beat in eggs one at a time
  3. ♥ Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until just combined
  4. ♥ Fill muffin cups 3/4 full in greased muffin tin (they will not rise but more would be too dense IMO)
  5. ♥ Top with decorations, if you choose to do so – they’re really just perfect without anything though
  6. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, will be firm to the touch but a testing knife or stick will not come out clean

If you want a cupcake, top them with our Creamy Not Cheese Frosting to make a wonderful cupcake!

Makes 1 dozen pucks. Store at room temperature only for a day or two, otherwise keep in the fridge or freezer (if they last that long!).

Do these easy and fun steps (♥) with your little one!

Don’t forget to post your favorite Halloween recipes for our Recipe Round-Up!

About Matthew

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  • http://primalma.com Primalma

    Yummy, new to site and love this!

    • http://PaleoParents.com Stacy & Matt

      Thanks! Hope you enjoy what you see around here!

      • http://www.eriekingdom.wordpress.com Cece

        A nifty little trick when using silicone baking cups is to make homemade pumpkin pie filling (with minimal honey and less milk +1 egg) they actually come out just perfectly as well.  Quiche is awesome crustless in silicone baking cups too.  They look super yummo! 

        • http://PaleoParents.com Stacy & Matt

          We love our silicone baking cups, seriously. I don’t know if I’d ever make quiche if I didn’t have them, since baked egg is so deadly to aluminum pans.

  • Katielea78

    New to this site as well! Looking forward to trying all these yummy recipes!!

    • http://PaleoParents.com Stacy & Matt

      We hope you do! Thanks for checking us out.

  • http://thefoodieandthefamily.com Tara

    YUM! I want to make them just to see what the inside looks like! :)

    • http://PaleoParents.com Stacy & Matt

      They look orange! They’re pretty close to that custardy texture of pie. Let us know how they turn out!

  • http://www.paleospirit.com Lea

    These “pucks” look delicious.  My kids would have put chocolate chips on top too just like they do with paleo pancakes.  Unfortunately, my oldest son is allergic to all nuts so I will have to find (or create) a recipe that uses coconut flour instead.  In the meantime he may just have to sit on the sidelines while we enjoy these.

    • http://PaleoParents.com Stacy & Matt

      My suggestion: replace the almond butter with sunflower seed butter and the almond flour with coconut flour with a tablespoon of coconut oil. Should be fairly similar that way. If you make them, let us know how they turn out!

      • Nora

        My kids have nut allergies and that is EXACTLY how I am going to try the recipe!  They also have egg allergies so I will use flax seed/water mixture to replace eggs as well.  Thanks so much for this recipe!  Finally a rainy morning in DFW and a great pumpkin recipe to try…

        • Steph

          Hi Nora…just curious to know how these turned out with flax eggs instead of real eggs.  They look so good and I’ve just discovered my egg allergy.  I really miss my eggs, esp when I’m baking :-)

          Thanks!

  • Alana

    I love your site! I’ve been lurking for a while and our family is just starting our Paleo journey. We are starting by cutting out just gluten and refined sugar. We’ll move on from there. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for all the great recipes and I am so excited for your book. We live in the DC area and are going to check out Polyface too!

    • http://PaleoParents.com Stacy & Matt

      Thank you so much! We essentially did the same at first. Good luck on your journey!

  • Sarah Tolson

    Ooo.. my coconut pumpkin bread was an epic fail this morning.. so I’m definitely trying this one!  Thanks. :)

    • http://PaleoParents.com Stacy & Matt

      No, thank you! Glad we could help.

  • Shirley @ gfe

    Those look totally delicious! Great job! :-) I’m all about the pumpkin and healthy pumpkin treats are the best. ;-)

    Shirley

    • http://PaleoParents.com Stacy & Matt

      Thanks, Shirley. We get pretty pumpkin obsessed around here, too. Stacy wanted to make October an all pumpkin recipe month until I reminded her that people in more tropical places would get sick of looking at stuff they can’t make!

  • http://www.grainfreegroupie.blogspot.com GrainFreeGroupie

    So grateful for paleo resources from moms and dads that are making it work!  I tagged you guys for a Liebster Award!  http://grainfreegroupie.blogspot.com/2011/10/liebster-blog-award.html

    • http://PaleoParents.com Stacy & Matt

      Thanks a lot! We’re glad to have inspired you. We do appreciate you thinking of us for the Liebster Award, unfortunately we may not have time to truly accept it and pass it on, as this month will be jam packed with edits on the book! But who knows when and what Matt will get the free time and inspiration for these days!

  • BeccaHi

    Thanks for the inspiration!
    I tried out the recipe today, was so excited. It seems to be missing some key “pumpkin pie” spices, perhaps ginger and allspice along w/ cinnamon and nutmeg. Mine came out a bit on the dry side, and not very creamy in the center. However with a glass of milk, they tasted better. Maybe I missed something? I do make my own almond butter, and baked my own pumpkin for the puree and use Bob’s Red Mill almond flour. I will surely try it again!

    • http://PaleoParents.com Stacy & Matt

      When I make pumpkin pie, I usually use cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. Unfortunately, I only had the first two on hand that week. While we used our own pumpkin puree, I would say that homemade almond butters can be a little drier than the canned kind and the Red Mill seems to end up too coarse. Perhaps, when and if you try again, a little extra oil and a couple fewer minutes might help.

      Thanks for trying them! We really appreciate the feedback.

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  • Glutenfreeveg

    would these work with almond flour and peanut butter? is the almond flour blanched (honeyvile) or not (bob’s/trader joe)? i definitely want to try these–i overbought on canned organic pumpkin last year!

    • http://PaleoParents.com Stacy & Matt

      I don’t see why not. We, obviously, don’t eat peanuts, but as far as I can remember, they can be used interchangeably. We use Honeyville blanched, although using a Bob’s Red Mill will probably work, although the consistency would be a little off. Let us know how they turn out!

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  • Chrystal in Canada

    This is great.  I made them this afternoon.  I was a little short on pumpkin so I subbed in some homemade applesauce.  VERY GOOD!!!!!

    • http://PaleoParents.com Stacy & Matt

      Wonderful! Glad you enjoyed them. I think the applesauce would be an interesting change. Probably would make it sweeter and more moist. Thanks!

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  • http://kenedram.blogspot.com/2011/11/whats-cookin.html Kendra

    I made these for my family over the weekend and all loved. So, of course I had to blog about them. :-) Thanks for sharing!!

    • http://PaleoParents.com Stacy & Matt

      Thank you for trying them!

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  • Jennifer Gatto

    I am eating one of these as I type. Delicious! I used Trader Joe’s Just Almond Meal instead of almond flour, and I decorated the tops with raisins.  Mine actually did rise, and I was surprised at the muffiny-texture (not as dense as I was expecting).  They are awesome! Just the treat for mom, who has grudgingly been going paleo with me.

    • http://PaleoParents.com Stacy & Matt

      Glad to hear that even with some changes they still work out – thanks!

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  • http://www.facebook.com/gehextetexte.ninaweber Nina Weber

    Could I use coconut flour instead of almond flour? (And since I am not from the US, I have to ask: Almond flour is simply ground almonds, right? Here they are sold in the baking isle because it’s the main ingredient in many German cookies)
    Just discovered your site after googling “Paleo nursing children”, love what I have seen so far! :)

    • http://PaleoParents.com Stacy & Matt

       We haven’t tried it, but since it’s so little it’s likely to work fine. Yes, almond flour is just finely ground almonds. You could make it yourself with a powerful blender. I assume Germans use mostly almond paste, right? Well the flour would be what you have just before you add the oil to make almond butter or paste.

      Glad you’re enjoying the site! We just ran out of those “paleo nursing children” last week when Wes weaned himself, but there are many posts with information on nursing here!

  • Mary Beth

    These are amazing! They really do have the texture of pumpkin pie! Everyone loved them, and is already asking when we can make them again… thanks for sharing!

    • http://PaleoParents.com Stacy & Matt

       That was the goal! Happy they turned out well for you.

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  • Nicole

    Anyone know if you can substitue 1 tbsp flax seed/3 tbsp water per egg?  I had used this for a different recipe, but the result was a bit too moist.  Or is there a better egg substitute?

  • Debbie

    I just made these and even my picky eater ate one. Yum! Thanks for a great recipe. Just the ticket to kick off my annual craving for all things pumpkin.

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  • Beth

    I recently made a variation of this recipe. Mine didn’t turn out as pretty as yours though. I used hazelnuts instead of almonds. I ground whote nuts in my food processor to make the flour and the nut butter. They tasted good but more hazelnut flavor than pumpkin.

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  • KitchenWren

    Made these with banana puree instead of pumpkin, they were pretty good but then we frosted some with the cinnamon ginger frosting and that took it up the notch it needed!

  • http://twitter.com/baseball_wife1 AW

    These are in the oven as I type this. My house smells like Thanksgiving! I’m an RN and have to usually eat on the go, and I figured these would make a great easy-to-grab breakfast as I’m driving down the road at 5:30 am. :) Thanks for the recipe!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/KateSteff Kate Steff

    Oh, sweet baby Jesus in his crib! These are amazing. I added some cinnamon chips into the batter (1/4 cup) and then sprinkled a few on top. Nice addition. Also, made them in a mini muffin tin – about 15 minutes for the right consistency. Marry me?

  • Rochelle

    My little girl just polished off two of these! My husband gave them a thumbs up too! I didn’t have any maple syrup, so I used coconut nectar. I also used one tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice instead of the spices listed. Sadly, I didn’t get to try them (I can’t do almonds). When my co-op order comes in on Weds., I am going to whip up a batch with coconut flour! Thanks for a great recipe!!!

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  • Exarmymedic

    You should have mentioned using something non-stick on the tin. :( I have a seriously yummy mess happening. These taste awesome!!

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  • http://www.facebook.com/jay.folts Jay Folts

    Just made these today. My 3 year old that doesn’t like food said they were awesome! So happy I have another item he will actually eat.