So I decided to conduct some baking experiments involving pumpkin muffins the other day.

In case you’re unfamiliar with baking, experimenting is normally not a great idea.

With cooking, go ahead and experiment to your little heart’s content.

Usually, measuring isn’t super important, and you can swap in different ingredients without too much thought.

But with baking, your product can get messed up real quick.

Mix in some baking powder instead of baking soda? Don’t even.

Think you can skip a trip to the store and get away with using just one egg instead of two? Probably not a smart decision.

Attempt to whip cold butter? That’s crazy talk!

However…

There are some established baking “rules” that you can follow when it comes to altering a recipe to suit your taste.

For folks like me, who can’t seem to leave well enough alone.

I must have been feeling extra cocky when making these muffins because I made not one, but three significant changes (yeah way more consequential than boldly adding an extra pinch of cinnamon) to the original recipe.

You know, to turn these muffins into somewhat healthy little dudes.

So you can devour 5 muffins instead of 2 without thinking twice about your life decisions.

Anyway, on to the rules.

Rule #1: With muffins, cookies, pancakes, waffles, and a lot of other bready things, you can sub in whole wheat flour for half of the all-purpose flour that a recipe calls for.

Whole wheat is obviously healthier than the regular stuff, so this one was a no-brainer, plus the taste and texture doesn’t change that much.

In this case, the original recipe calls for 2 cups all-purpose flour. My “new and improved” version uses 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour. Bam!

Rule #2: For muffins and loaves, you can swap in unsweetened applesauce for oil, and butter too.

I honestly don’t really know how this is possible, but believe me, it works! Clearly applesauce has pretty much zero fat and oil is a whole lot of fat. The applesauce helps keep your muffins moist though! And it’s a fruit. This keeps getting better and better.

The original recipe calls for 1 cup canola oil, so normally I would have used 1 cup of applesauce instead for the healthier version… but the third rule affects this rule, which I will explain in just a sec, so bear with me. I ended up using 1/2 cup applesauce and 2 tablespoons canola oil (to play it a little safe), but you can use all applesauce if you want.

Rule #3: For muffins and loaves (and a lot of other recipes! Google it) you can swap in 3/4 cup pure maple syrup for every 1 cup granulated sugar that a recipe calls for. Also!! Decrease the liquid in your recipe by 3 tablespoons for every 3/4 cup maple syrup used. Does your brain hurt yet?

Now duh maple syrup is still sugar. But, it’s supposed to be better for you than granulated sugar, so why not? You end up using a little less sugar too, so that’s a win. Suga Suga how you get so fly?

The original recipe calls for 2 cups sugar! Yikes. Soo 3/4 cup maple syrup + 3/4 cup maple syrup = 1 1/2 cups maple syrup. Yep yep.

Now for the part that affects Rule #2. Since we are now using 1 1/2 cups maple syrup, we’re going to have to decrease our liquid by 3 tablespoons + 3 tablespoons = 6 tablespoons. The liquid here is our applesauce/oil combo, which starts at 1 cup. 1 cup = 16 tablespoons and 16 tablespoons – 6 tablespoons = 10 tablespoons… in other words 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons. That right there is how you get to 1/2 cup applesauce and 2 tablespoons canola oil!

At this point you definitely think I’m crazy for putting so much dang effort into making a batch of perfectly fine pumpkin muffins into a more healthy batch of pumpkin muffins.

Don’t worry your pretty little head though, because I did all the hard work for you.

You’re welcome.

And you want to know what makes these muffins even more delicious??

Pumpkin puree, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and toasted walnuts!

That’s right, these muffins contain whole grains, a vegetable, a fruit, and protein!

Perhaps my insanity is beginning to make a bit of sense.

It’s time to grease up your muffin pans and get baking.

And eating, of course.

P.S. When subbing in maple syrup for regular ole sugar, you also want to decrease your oven temp by 25 degrees, since apparently maple syrup browns a little more easily. With a lower baking temp you’ll need to leave them in the oven a few minutes longer as well.

P.P.S. These bad boys are soo moist and delicious! They’ll be just as amazing 5 days after you bake them up. Wowza.

P.P.P.S. You really don’t need to add the walnuts if you don’t consider yourself team Captain Crunch.

P.P.P.P.S. The muffins won’t be quite as puffy as “standard” muffins, but the taste and texture is still amazing. Trust me.