Cherry Pumpkin Seed Flour Muffins (sugar-free, grain-free)
We have been picking pounds of cherries from our lovely friend’s cherry tree. Every year they give us a call in July when their cherries are ready and a call in late August when their peaches are ready. Both of their trees abundantly produce the most amazing cherries and peaches. Even after picking boxes of fruit there is still more on the trees!
We pit and freeze (I use this cherry pitter) most of the cherries for our children. They all have a frozen fruit snack addiction. I normally don’t keep traditional snack foods in the house such as packaged crackers, cookies, and bars so when they are hungry they push a stool over to the freezer and help themselves to bowlfuls of frozen fruit. This is usually cherries, blueberries, raspberries, and peaches. I also freeze plums and pears in September but they don’t go for those!
I have been working on more recipes using super nutritious pumpkin seed flour. I must have had beginner’s luck with my Chocolate Pumpkin Seed Flour Cake because my other attempts have not been so successful. This flour is like none other that I have baked with. Pumpkin seed flour seems to suck up a lot of liquid! When testing recipes, I would keep adding more liquid to the batter because it seemed so thick. The end, baked result was soggy and never quite cooked all the way through.
With my previous attempts, I tested egg-free recipes. Since these weren’t so successful, I decided to use eggs again. After mixing this recipe up I thought to add more liquid because again, the batter was sooo thick! But I stopped and thought just to bake them as is and see what happens. They came out perfect! Finally, a pumpkin seed flour recipe I can share with you.
If you would like to purchase this flour you can click here for ordering info. Omega Nutrition is the producer of this fine flour. All of the contact info is on the link.
Cherry Pumpkin Seed Flour Muffins
These muffins have the perfect touch of sweetness with big chunks of luscious red cherries. The allspice lends a subtle sweet, spicy flavor that melds nicely with the cherries. Pumpkin seed flour is also called pumpkin seed protein powder and is made from very finely ground raw pumpkin seeds. Store muffins in a tightly sealed container for up to 3 days (if they last that long) or freeze for longer storage!
Dry Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
Other Ingredients
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
- Place the dry ingredients into a large bowl and whisk together.
- In another smaller bowl whisk together the wet ingredients. Pour the wet into the dry and whisk together. The batter will be thick!
- Cut the cherries into halves (if they are large) and fold into the batter. Fill each muffin cup evenly. You will “overfill” each cup.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan 180 degrees halfway through baking. Remove muffins from pan and place onto a wire rack to cool.
Use this recipe in our Meal Planner
About the Author
Ali Segersten
Alissa Segersten holds a Bachelor's of Science in Nutrition from Bastyr University and a Master’s of Science in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine from the University of Western States. She is a Functional Nutritionist, the mother of five children, a whole foods cooking instructor, professional recipe developer, and cookbook author. She is passionate about helping others find a diet that will truly nourish them. Alissa is the author of two very popular gluten-free, whole foods cookbooks and guidebooks: The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook and Nourishing Meals. She is also the co-author of The Elimination Diet book. Alissa is the founder and owner of Nourishing Meals®.Nourishing Meals Newsletter
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Comments
I'm a big fan of pumpkin seeds and make my own flour and butter from them. And, they are low oxalate which is important to me. Since I'm low oxalate, I can't have arrowroot flour. I'm thinking I could make a mix of coconut flour and psyllium to replace it? Thought anyone?
Hi Michelle,
You could try potato starch or sweet rice flour to replace the arrowroot. You would use a little less of either of these since they have more binding power and absorb more liquid compared to arrowroot.
P.S. For those of you with access to the Azure Standard buyer's club, they carry their own brand of pumpkin seed flour. Good quality at a very reasonable price.
Thanks for the recipe! I made these today and they came out very nice. I made several subs: tapioca instead of arrowroot, cardamon instead of allspice (I wish I'd used ginger), and I didn't have light coconut milk so I used regular but poured out the liquid into the measuring cup first.
The biggest sub (and the reason I wanted the recipe in the first place) was cranberries instead of cherries. I had 1/4 cup leftover relish and then added 1 3/4 cups whole fresh washed cranberries.
I turned the pans at 10 mins. At 25 mins they were completely uncooked. At 32 minutes, they were perfect.
Wow!! These are delicious. I used tapioca starch instead of arrowroot and subbed cinnamon for allspice and added some fresh nutmeg!! Sprinkled a tiny bit of coconut sugar over the top before baking. So tender and full of flavor. Thank you so much.
Thought I would let everyone know my results: I ground my own pumpkin seeds from our Halloween pumpkins (cleaned and dried overnight, roasted at 170F for 20 min, cooled, then ground in a coffee grinder and sifted through a mesh strainer. Didn't have quite enough, so used 1/2 cup coconut flour and 3/4 cup almond meal, rest was pumpkin seed meal packed lightly. And used frozen blueberries instead of cherries, swapped cinnamon for the allspice, added a dash of nutmeg. Baked 33 min, they are great! Great way to get pumpkin seeds into my toddler with texture issues. Thanks for experimenting and making this recipe Ali!
Nuts.com also sells pumpkin seed powder. It took ~ 1/2 pkg to make these muffins. They sell in 1 lb packages for 6.99.
I'm having trouble finding this flour. Do you have an updated source? Thanks!
Pumpkin seed flour! I've never heard of such a thing and will have to see if we can stock it at the health food store I work at. We just got in sesame flour and I've been playing with it too.
Thankyou for the beautiful recipe :D
I made this with only 1 substitution - almond milk for the coconut milk. It was my first attempt at baking with Pumpkin Flour. For those of you considering purchasing it, I would suggest pairing it with more than just arrowroot as it has a pretty distinct flavor & texture. It is very filling as well, so I would make 12 muffins with this batter to make it more calorie friendly. Without the cherries, this is more of a savory flavor so you can add some sweetener to your tastebuds.
Can I substitute almond milk for the coconut milk? The pumpkin flour is expensive, so I wanted to verify ahead of time. I have been wanting to make these muffins for months. I recently discovered that this recipe creates an almost perfect balance of protein, carb & fat so I am going to buy flour but also wanted to know if (1) container is enough for 3 cups. Love your creative recipes!!
Finally tracked down pumpkin seed flour and am looking forward to trying some of your pumpkin seed flour recipes, but I am wondering why Omega decided to market it as a protein powder rather than a flour?
Do you think it would be OK to put some in a green smoothie?
I love your blog and recipes. The sunflower seed truffles have been a hit with me and everyone who has tried them!
I really want to make some of these pumpkin seed flour recipes (without ordering pumpkin seed flour :-)) and I was wondering if pumpkin seed flour is just ground up pumpkin seeds (more or less?). I read that one of your readers (on her blog) tried it with poor results--has anyone else tried it and had a similar experience?
Kathy - Probably easy to miss, but I did leave a link in the post on how to order the flour. It is just before the photo of the one muffin. :)
Shirley - Yes these muffins are green with red cherries - I think we have a Christmas theme going on here! They are good muffins and all gone now! I think I ate almost all of them except for those I gave to some friends who stopped by this evening! :)
-Ali :)
Am I really seeing that green tint with these as well? Wicked witch green? LOL I bet these are wonderful though. Thanks for doing all the reseach for us!
Shirley
Hi there,
I like the use of a non-nut flour and the fact that these are grain free. I have never seen or heard of pumpkin seed flour before. Where does one go about finding it?
Thanks! Kathy G.
Thank you Stephanie for your kind words. I just checked out your blog and I have to say that your chocolate chip cookies made with cashew butter and no flour look amazing!
-Ali :)
Ali- I enjoy your recipes and more so your approach to nutrition. I am just starting out as a Certified Holistic Health Counselor and have been utilizing your blog for my own works and for clients. I also have added a link to my blog @...www.glutenfreehope.blogspot.com. Thanks for all you do in your busy life.
Much peace-
Stephanie
Thanks Amy, yes, sometimes multiple attempts are needed to get the recipe just right. This is a great flour. Happy baking! :)
These look great...I have never tried pumpkin seed flour. We love pepitas so I'm sure that the flour is wonderful.
I was making some chocolate muffins today and the batter was really thick, too. They baked beautifully but the flavor isn't quite there. Multiple attempts seem to be standard around here. :)
Alisa - Thanks, I love this flour, it is so nutritious and filling. One muffin for breakfast filled me up for hours! :)
Eagle Loft - It is cherry season and I love it! Cherries are my absolute favorite fruit. Expect to see more recipes with cherries all week. I can't wait to check out your ice cream! Thanks for adding a link. :)
-Ali :)
These look really good. I love cherries! It's funny that my post this morning was about cherries too :) So lovely that you have a friend with a cherry tree who likes to share.
Cherry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Pumpkin seed flour ... that is seriously creative!