Just like pumpkin nut loaves, these muffins are tender and cakey with bold pumpkin flavor. As they bake in the oven, they fill your home with the inviting aromas of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. The crunchy nut topping is a simple mix of butter, flour, pecans, cinnamon and demerara sugar. My guests voted these muffins even better than plain pumpkin bread, and that’s saying a lot. Yum!
Number of servings: 12, 260 calories per serving.
Ingredients
Muffins
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1-1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 (15-ounce) can 100% pure pumpkin
Topping
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup demerara sugar (raw cane sugar, also called turbinado)
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray two standard muffin pans with non-stick cooking spray.
- Begin with the topping: Combine the flour, butter, demerara sugar, chopped pecans and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Move on to the muffins: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar at low speed until just blended. Add the coconut milk and continue beating at medium speed until very light and fluffy, a few minutes. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined, scraping down the sides of bowl as necessary. Turn the speed down to low and mix in the flour mixture until just combined.
- Use an ice cream scoop to transfer batter to muffin pans, filling each muffin tin about ¾ full. Sprinkle topping evenly over batter. Bake for about 30 minutes. Let the muffins cool on rack for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto rack to cool completely (use a butter knife to lift them out of pan).
- Notes: When making muffins, always fill any empty muffin tins halfway with water; this ensures that your muffins will bake evenly. If you want to make these muffins without the nut topping, increase the sugar in the muffins to 1¾ cup. Reheat muffins by giving them a quick blast in the microwave.
