Avocado Pumpkin Muffins

Avocados are a favorite at our house. We like to use them in a variety of ways, like on sandwiches, eggs and salads. But when I picked up a bag of avocados the other day, I did not expect to go home and make muffins out of them! I didn’t notice this at the store, but the bag had a recipe stapled to it. The recipe was Avocado Pumpkin Muffins, which intrigued me. I had all the ingredients on hand so I decided to give it a try!

These muffins call for an avocado, pumpkin puree and a banana. Not a combination I would have put together, but a tasty combination nonetheless. This recipe is really quick and simple and yields great results! Adults and kids alike will enjoy this tasty fall treat.

My two older kids both liked these muffins and my husband even said they were good. When I told him what was in them, he asked me why I thought it was necessary to put an avocado in a muffin, ha. This made me laugh because I knew he would say something like that! But, these were so delicious that he even ate them after knowing the “unusual” ingredients.

Tips

This recipe calls for a ripe avocado and ripe banana. For the sake of taste, you definitely don’t want to use an underripe avocado or banana. If you’re not familiar with avocados, you will know one is ripe and ready to use by pressing it with your thumb. If the skin gives, or sinks in a little, after a gentle press of the thumb, the avocado is ripe enough to use. As for bananas, the more brown the peel, the sweeter the banana, which makes for a more flavorful muffin. A banana that no longer has any green on the peel or stem is ready to use. However, a little brown is better and a lot of brown is best!

The other main ingredient is pumpkin puree. This can easily be confused with pumpkin pie filling when buying it in a can. Pumpkin puree has not been sweetened nor does it have spices added to it. It is simply pureed pumpkin. However, pie filling will have other ingredients added to make it more flavorful and ready to be put into a pie crust. Pumpkin puree and pie filling are usually right next to each other on the store shelf, so just be sure to grab puree rather than pie filling.

This recipe yields eighteen muffins. Cupcake liners/wrappers are recommended for ease of removing the muffins from the pan intact. Allowing the muffins to cool completely before unwrapping helps them not stick to the wrapper (but they are really delicious warm!).

Credit

As I stated above, this recipe was stapled to a bag of avocados I purchased. The avocados were from Westfalia Fruit (no affiliation). The company does have a website but I did not see this recipe posted on their site. I did change the ingredients and instructions slightly, but for the most part followed the original.

If you try these muffins please let me know what you think in the comments! Did you like the blend of flavors? If you shared them, what did others think? I would love to hear from you!

Avocado Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 18 cupcake wrappers in muffin tins.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice.
3. In a separate medium bowl, combine the avocado, banana, pumpkin, eggs, sugar and vanilla.
4. Add the flour mixture to the avocado mixture and stir until smooth.
5. Evenly distribute the mixture into muffin tins, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Sprinkle with chopped pecans then gently press pecans down into mixture with the back of a spoon.
6. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes.