Breakfast: Pumpkin Muffins

Recipe by Sarabeth Levine It seems naïve to talk about building a business on a single muffin, but in case of this pumpkin muffin, it's the truth. Instead of the heavy, dark-brown pumpkin muffins people expected, we offered them a light-textured, attract

This recipe includes fertility superfoods such as:

Cinnamon, Sunflower Seeds

Health and fertility benefits of Pumpkin Muffins

Cinnamon is one of the best ingredients that someone with insulin sensitivity can eat. Half a teaspoon of cinnamon per day has been shown to be very effective at normalizing blood sugar levels. Cinnamon contains hydroxychalcone, which is thought to enhance the effects of insulin. It has also been suggested that Cinnamon prevents post-meal blood sugar spikes by slowing the gastric emptying rate - meaning that food digests slowly. (Reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11506060). Sunflower seeds are an excellent food for PCOS as they are packed with vitamin B2 (riboflavin) and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine). Just one cup of sunflower seeds provides 30% of the recommended daily intake for vitamin B6. Sunflower seeds are also loaded with two other important of PCOS busting minerals: zinc and magnesium.

Ingredients

Softened unsalted butter, for the pan
3 2/3 cups pastry flour, sifted
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 1/3 cups superfine sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature, beaten
One 15-ounce can solid-pack pumpkin
1 cup seedless golden or dark raisins
1/4 cup hulled unsalted sunflower seeds

Instructions

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400˚F. Brush the insides of 12 to 14 muffin cups with softened butter, then brush the top of the pan.
Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt together into a medium bowl. Beat the butter in the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed until creamy, about I minute. Gradually beat in the sugar and continue beating, scraping the sides of the bowl often with a silicone spatula, until the mixture is very light in color and texture, about 5 minutes. Gradually beat in the eggs. Reduce the mixture speed to low. Beat in the pumpkin; the mixture may look curdled. In thirds, beat in the flour mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl often, and mix until smooth. Add the raisins. Increase the speed to high and beat until the batter has a slight sheen, about 15 seconds, no longer.
Using a 2 1/2 inch-diameter ice-cream scoop, portion the batter, rounded side up, into the prepared cups. Sprinkle the tops with the sunflower seeds.
Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 °F and continue baking until the tops of the muffins are golden brown and a wire cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 15 minutes more.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan and cool completely.

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