Flours: I always grind my own flours since it allows me to make just the right amount, and it tastes better. But you can use whole-grain oat and millet flours from the store if you like. Millet may seem like an odd choice, but mixing flours gives a more nuanced flavor, and since my recipes are gluten-free, these are my two favorites. Using all oat flour would probably work just fine; or experiment with other flours in place of the millet.

Spices: Pumpkin Pie Spice seemed the logical choice here, but if you don’t have it, you can also use cinnamon in whole or part, with a smaller fraction of ground nutmeg and/or cardamom.

Add nuts: If you like nuts in your muffins, stir in a ½ cup of chopped pecans (walnuts would be good too) after stirring in step 5. The muffins won’t rise as much due to the weight of the nuts, but they will still cook through.

Muffin color: Whenever I take these out of the oven, they look so dark! But this is due to the brown dates and pumpkin. I worry that I’ve overbaked them, but they always seem to lighten a bit as they cool.

Baking powder and soda: I use Hain sodium-free baking powder. There is also a baking soda substitute by “Ener-G” available if you don't want any sodium. (Baking soda is very high in sodium.) For this recipe I used regular soda, so the sodium is high, but using Ener-g will bring it way down. Both brands are most easily found online, as they are hit and miss in stores.