photo & recipe from Another One Bites The Crust

One of my favorite things to recommend to mamas who like to bake is to have an Early Labor Baking Project (let’s just call it ELBP) in mind so that during early labor she and her partner have not only a fun and distracting task, but one that will create edible results that can be shared with the team supporting with the birth. Whether you will be giving birth in the hospital with nurses and doctors, or in your living room with midwives and their assistants, a homemade snack is always welcome. I actually first heard of the idea of the ELBP when I was a labor and delivery nurse. One night after getting my mama settled into her hospital room and introducing myself to her and her husband, their first words to me were, “we made you cookies!” Well, you can’t go wrong with that! It was so appreciated and as you can see, has always stuck with me. Now that I’m working as a doula I recommend the ELBP to my clients and so far it has been both a fun task for them and, of course, hugely appreciated by the recipients.

Although cookies are always a popular ELBP choice, I have had chocolate chip pumpkin muffins on the mind and it struck me that they would be perfect this time of year. My labor and delivery stint was on the night shift, and an offering of homemade muffins at 7 am would have been heart warming and tummy pleasing like you wouldn’t believe. In the search for the perfect recipe I came across the beautiful photo above along with a good-lookin’ recipe on the Nicole Carpenter’s blog Another One Bites the Crust. Nicole cheerfully agreed to let me reprint her recipe and instructions below. Thanks Nicole!

Fun fact: This recipe is free of animal products so you don’t have to worry about leaving vegans out of the deliciousness. Bonus!

VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP PUMPKIN MUFFINS
from Another One Bites The Crust
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp apple pie spice mix (cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (make sure the package says vegan)
3/4 cup almond milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract

Nicole’s instructions:
I didn’t feel like cleaning up a million bowls, so all I did was throw everything together until it was all combined. Lazy! I used an ice cream scoop to scoop the batter into my large muffin tins. This recipe made 6 large muffins, so probably 12 small muffins.
Oh, and I baked the muffins at 375 for 20 minutes, and then I upped the temperature to 400 for probably 7 minutes until a toothpick stuck in it came out clean.
These are SO GOOD! I’d call these one of the most fabulous fall treats. They’re perfectly moist with a little bit of added crunch with the oats sprinkled on top. Yum!

So there you have it. If you decide to embrace your inner Betty Crocker and whip these up as your ELBP let us know what you think. And if you have your own favorite ELBP recipe, do tell!