My daughter, she leads an exhausting life; sometimes I wonder how she does it.  Here is what her day has looked like thus far:

7:45   wakes and begins the day with some lounging in bed, discussing her quests for the morning with her good pal froggie

8:15  breakfast.  poached eggs…served to her on a beautiful turquoise plastic plate with a side of berries and milk

9:00  leave for school.  puppets, songs, stories, slides, playhouses…basically Christmas in one room

11:00  return home for playtime and books…and a quick Facetime date with Sittie (her grandma)

12:00  lunch.  leftover macaroni and cheese with spinach served with green beans and milk. and an orange for dessert

12:45 nap

3:30  wake up.  eat these muffins.  these delicious, warm, sweet pumpkiney muffins

Can somebody please explain to me why human beings are unable to remember our early years?  Because let me tell you…that is one pretty life that girl lives.  She eats, she sleeps, she’s bathed and changed and cuddled and loved and tickled and smooched to pieces…it seems very wrong to not remember how all of those things felt.  Life is backwards…and good, all at the same time.

I can honestly say these are some wonderful muffins; unbeatable hot out of the oven.  They are perfectly sweet and spiceful and have many nutrients including Vitamins K, A and fiber.  A great breakfast, snack or dessert; you pick.  If you asked my daughter she’d tell you it gave her just enough energy to get right back into her busy, stressful day 😉

ps I know, there is a muffin missing in the photo.   I have NO clue who ate it…and then suddenly after the photos were taken the cut one on the bottom right went missing.  Weird.  If you have this same problem, let me know..

Pumpkin Oat Muffins

*Note: be sure to use gluten free oats if you would like to make these GF

Ingredients

1 3/4 Cup Oats

1 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

1 Cup Pumpkin Puree

1/3 Cup Butter or Coconut Oil, melted

2 Eggs, beaten

1/4 Cup Agave Nectar or Honey

1/2 Cup Pure Maple Syrup

1/2 Cup Walnuts, chopped

Oats for topping, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 12 count muffin pan.  Place oats in a food processor and run the motor until it becomes a flour; it will look like this

Combine oat flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon in a medium bowl.  In a separate large bowl whisk together pumpkin, butter or coconut oil, eggs, agave or honey and maple syrup.  Stir dry ingredients into wet and mix with a spoon until combined.  Stir in walnuts and distribute batter amongst the muffin pan cups and sprinkle the top of the muffins with oats. Bake until toothpick comes out clean, 20-25 minutes.