The Unlikely Baker

Easy and Delicious Recipes for the Home Baker!

Pumpkin Pecan Muffins with Pecan Streusel Topping

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Start the day right with these delicious pumpkin pecan muffins. With bits of crunchy pecans mixed in with the batter and a delightful pecan streusel topping, it’s a muffin especially made for a lovely fall morning.

Pumpkin Pecan Muffins with Pecan Streusel Topping

Hi everyone! A most wonderful Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends!

Welcome to my first pumpkin recipe on the blog. Can you believe it? Apart from my Kabocha Squash Fritters which technically is not pumpkin and my round-up of unique pumpkin and squash recipes, I haven’t really been very pumpkin-friendly.

Apples are my ingredient of choice in the fall (have you seen my Salted Caramel Apple Cheesecake?) so I tend to bake with them more than pumpkins. But this year though, I decided to give pumpkins a shot and by golly I now understand the obsession with all things pumpkin spice! I can’t believe it took me this long.

So while this pumpkin pecan muffins with pecan streusel topping is the first recipe I’m sharing, it won’t be the last!

Rounded, sturdy pumpkin pecan muffins

My main challenge when baking muffins is how to get those nice rounded tops. I’ve had many a muffin sink to the very centre of the earth. We still ate them; they just looked very sad.

I learned that the key is not to over mix the batter. If you’ve been mixing for 30 seconds, you’ve done it too long.

You’re not looking for a smooth batter but a really lumpy one so that when you scoop it onto your muffin liners they plop onto the liners like a blob and don’t flow like cake batters usually do.

Check these out (wish they were more rounded! Practice, practice, practice):

Spice vs. more spice

Anyway. The recipe for these muffins came from the basic muffin recipe in the Joy of Cooking (this is an awesome book. Highly recommended.). I just pimped it out with spices, pumpkin puree and the most delicious pecan streusel topping (more on that later).

I was very careful not to overdo the spices in this muffin though. While I wanted it to taste very…fall-y…I didn’t want the spices to steal the show and overshadow everything else. You can add more if you like it spicier.

Pecan streusel topping

Pumpkin Pecan Muffins with Pecan Streusel Topping

That topping though. That’s the star of this muffin show. It’s not overly sweet, it’s the right amount of sticky and it goes so well with the pumpkin pecan muffin it sits on.

And you can use it not just on muffins but on cakes and pies too. It will make your baked goods that much better.

Hello, pumpkin!

I think this is a great start to our relationship, pumpkin and I. More pumpkin recipes to come! I am having such a blast recipe testing and I can’t wait to share them with you.

In the meantime, enjoy these pumpkin pecan muffins. Especially the pecan streusel topping. Hope it brightens up your fall morning! And guess what, this is super quick to whip up and is great for Thanksgiving morning!

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Pumpkin Pecan Muffins with Pecan Streusel Topping

Pumpkin Pecan Muffins with Pecan Streusel Topping

Ingredients

    For the Pecan Streusel Topping:
  • 1/4 cup (21 grams) rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup (55 grams) packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
  • 1/2 cup (60 grams) roughly chopped pecans
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    For the Pumpkin Pecan Muffins:
  • 2 cups (256 grams) all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 cup (240 ml) milk
  • 1 cup (201 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (240 grams) pumpkin puree (I used canned)
  • 1 cup (120 grams) roughly chopped pecans

Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients for your pecan streusel topping until clumpy. Set aside.
  2. Preheat your oven to 400F. Prep a muffin pan by lining it with paper liners (this recipe makes 12 muffins).
  3. In large bowl, whisk 2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ginger and 1/2 teaspoon allspice until fully combined.
  4. In another bowl, whisk 2 large eggs, 1 cup milk, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup melted butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 cup pumpkin puree until smooth and thoroughly incorporated. Stir in a cup of pecans.
  5. Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture and mix by hand until just combined. Once you see the dry ingredients are moistened and no big patches of flour remain you're good. This should not take more than 20 seconds. Your batter will be lumpy and not smooth.
  6. Evenly divide the batter into your muffin cups. Fill at least 2/3 full or almost to the rim. Sprinkle about a heaping tablespoon of your prepared topping on each muffin. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin (or muffins) comes out with minimal crumbs.
  7. Allow the muffins to cool slightly in the pan (2-3 minutes). Best served warm.
https://theunlikelybaker.com/pumpkin-pecan-muffins-pecan-streusel-topping/

Happy baking!

Did you make pumpkin pecan muffins or the pecan streusel topping? What’s your favourite muffin flavour? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.

More cupcakes less muffins for you? Here are delicious cupcake recipes you can try:

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hace a great time!
    This recipe looks so yummy – we go all out for Halloween and this looks great for celebrating in style.
    Great way to make the most of the pumpkins by eating the scooped up innards!! Have a great Thanksgiving and Halloween 🙂

    Reply

  3. I will definitely try this recipe as my family love pumpkin dishes, so I will try to make this dish s well when I will get time.

    Reply

  7. I am always looking for new recipes to do around Thanksgiving because I love to try new food. This recipe sold me. I am definitely going to try this one out on Thanksgiving with my daughter.

    Reply

    • Awesome! This would be perfect for Thanksgiving morning or Black Friday, before all the madness happens 🙂 Hope you guys like it!

      Reply

  9. I can honestly say I’ve never tried a pumpkin muffin. I’m supposed to be carving pumpkins this weekend though so maybe I could make these as a little treat for all our work! They look absolutely delicious!

    Reply

    • Hope you have a wonderful time! I wasn’t sure if you were planning to use your carved pumpkins but thought I’d mention: those large pretty pumpkins sold for carving in the States for Halloween are still edible, but they are not as good as the pumpkins specifically grown for eating 🙂 In any case, enjoy!

      Reply

  10. Omgosh, you just made me so hungry! That pumpkin pecan muffin is literally everything. It’s weird – I love muffins but I didn’t eat for a good month! Maybe I should make some! Also… that white chocolate muffin with raspberry filling… is crazy!!

    Reply

  12. Joy of Cooking is a gorgeous book right from the days of Julie and Julia movie! I love food books, movies and blogs and this cupcakes looked scrumptious!
    Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  13. Pumpkin muffins is an original. I understand you to say you were recipe testing, is this how you also came up with the other recipes posted on this blog? What motivated the baking revolution in you?

    Reply

    • I started teaching myself how to bake because I was so homesick! And it was so difficult to find the treats I was missing from home. It’s been quite the journey 🙂

      Reply

  15. I can’t believe that this is your first pumpkin recipe on the blog?? What?! Well, girl, you’ve hit it out of the park cos these muffins look amaze balls! And that pecan streusel topping on its own sounds so good….gotta love the streusel….someone should bottle that up and sell as a treat on it’s own 🙂 Have a fab weekend, my friend!

    Reply

  20. These gorgeous Pumpkin Pecan Muffins look absolutely stunning. I can almost smell their sweetness and taste their awesome flavor. Thanks so much for sharing this special fall recipe.

    Reply

  21. These are very different from what I usually make and I love that. I can’t wait to make these this month when we have company coming. I am sure they will go over well.

    Reply

  25. These are my new “go to” pumpkin muffins! I made them this afternoon for my husband and he loved them. The only thing he requested was a little sprinkle of mini chocolate chips on top! Thanks for this wonderful recipe!

    Reply

  29. Your pumpkin cupcakes looks so divine! I was drooling over the photos! I am not very good at baking, and frosting just does not come out right. I love your recipe because it does not call for frosting. I will try my best to make some. Hopefully I can get it to look as pretty as yours.

    Reply

  37. Oh my gosh, I love everything pumpkin and these look SO delicious! I’m definitely given them a try this season, thanks for the fab recipe 🙂

    Reply

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