Gold Standard Pumpkin Muffins
Time:
1h
Difficulty:
Easy
Loot:
18-24 muffins
This recipe is for my little sister…
The original quickbread base that I adapted into muffins is based on my family’s famous pumpkin bread recipe, which graced our house every fall when we stockpiled our cans for Thanksgiving. It was the first thing I learned to bake when I was big enough to crack an egg without Jackson Pollocking our 100-year-old hardwood floors.
The first time I modded the recipe almost felt like heresy. It was just something so steeped into our family’s tradition that it twisted my guts to do things any other way. But that day, my sis was craving a fall dessert (her go-to Panera order) to celebrate her first choral concert of the season. Being an almost decent older brother, my hands were tied. The result? A twist on a gold-standard flavor. A nutty, sweet, pumpkin-filled muffin that captured the fall vibes harder than a PSL in a warm filter on a valley girl’s Instagram (I had to make one Starbucks joke, sorry y’all).
Anyway, my sister was feeling a little sick recently so I decided to bring this one back out to help fight sickness with sugar. Here’s the good news: as long as you don’t burn them like a dumbass (definitely not me), it’s almost impossible to mess up. Seriously. Combine your ingredients in one bowl, and mix!
Word to the Wise
Nothing. Just don’t burn and don’t overmix. You got this.
Ingredients
Muffins:
1 cup vegetable oil
½ cup pumpkin (1 small can)
4 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 ½ cups granulated white sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
Streusel
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted (½ stick)
½ cup brown sugar
¼ tsp kosher salt
½ cup pecans, roughly chopped
1 tsp maple syrup
Instructions
Streusel Topping
In a food processor, add your pecans, and blitz until they have the consistency of a rough chop (solid chunks, not quite powder). If you don’t have one, place your pecans into a ziploc bag, seal it tight, and pulverize them with a rolling pin until you reach the desired chunky chop.
In a microwave-safe bowl/measuring cup, add your butter, and heat until melted.
Add together your brown sugar, salt, chopped pecans, and flour into a bowl, and stir until combined.
Pour out your butter and maple syrup, and using a whisk or whisk attachment, stir the mixture until combined into a chunky, sandy mix. The mixture should turn into a light hazelnut brown.
Muffins
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Add your flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon powder, and baking soda into a mixing bowl. Whisk to combine.
Add in your oil, eggs, pumpkin, and vanilla. Fold or mix using the paddle attachment until combined into one mix. Fold the bottom over the top a few times to make sure the batter is mixed all the way with no stray powder. It’ll be a little thick and gloppy light orange. That’s what you want.
Line a 12-count muffin pan with wrappers. Using an ice cream scoop or a ladle, carefully drop your batter into each wrapper.
Sprinkle the tops of each muffin with a bit of your streusel mix. Be sure to consider the size of your batch versus the amount of streusel you have available.
Place into the oven and bake for 22 minutes. Check with a chopstick or toothpick by poking a hole in the center of a random muffin to see if it’s done. If the toothpick/chopstick comes up clean, the muffins are ready.
Take your muffins out of the oven and let them cool for at least 5-10 minutes. Enjoy!