Gingerbread Muffins with Pumpkin and Cranberries

The original recipe called these pumpkin muffins, but the molasses overpowers the pumpkin so much they taste more like gingerbread (hence the name change). The addition of the cranberries adds a nice tartness. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheatflour

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

2/3 cup sugar

3 tablespoons unsulphered molasses

1/4 cup canola oil

2 large eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk

2/3 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds

Directions 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray or muffin liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg.

In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, molasses, oil and 1 egg until combined. Add the other egg and whisk well. Whisk in the pumpkin and vanilla. Whisk in the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Whisk just until combined. Gently fold in the cranberries. 

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of 1 of the muffins comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then remove the muffins from the pan and cool completely. 

Adapted from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/pumpkin-muffins-recipe/index.html