Auntie Julie’s Pumpkin Spice Muffins
This recipe comes to you from my very good friend Julie (Auntie Julie to Paxton). She and I have been trading recipes for years, and when we lived just a couple of miles away from each other, we were able to test taste each other’s creations. Now, it’s a 5-hour drive (with minimal traffic) between us! Who is working on that teleporter?
And now, to the muffins. Julie would like to share these important notes before we dive into the recipe:
- These use a WHOLE CAN of pumpkin puree – “I get so frustrated at recipes that only use 2/3 of a can! Come on! What am I going to do with 1/3 of a can of pumpkin purée on the fly?!” Me: I’m taking this as a challenge!
- These also use exactly 2 entire sticks of butter between the muffins and the streusel topping for easy measuring.
- Julie also tried a new technique of dabbing the pumpkin purée with a paper towel to suck up some of the excess moisture to concentrate the pumpkin flavor and noticed a difference with the pumpkiny-ness of the muffins (for the better).
- These are very moist muffins, even when fully baked through, so use a toothpick to test for doneness to make sure they are sufficiently dried out in the middle.
And I’m adding to make sure you are using a can of plain pumpkin puree and not a can of pumpkin pie filling, which has additional ingredients added.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease each cup.
For the streusel topping, combine 4 tbsp of melted (and cooled) butter, 3/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup tightly packed light brown sugar, 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Mix with a fork until the mixture comes together but is still lumpy.
In a bowl, combine the 1 1/4 cup flour, 3/4 tsp baking powder, 3/4 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground cloves, and 1 tsp of ground cinnamon. Whisk to evenly combine and to get out any lumps. Set aside.
In another bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together 1 1/2 sticks of softened butter with 1/3 cup of each white and light brown sugar. Add the eggs and beat well. Stir in a full can of pumpkin puree and 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract.
Next, add in the dry ingredients and mix until everything is just incorporated.
Evenly fill the 12 muffin cups then sprinkle the streusel topping over the tops, gently pressing it down so it doesn’t fall off.
Bake for 18 – 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the pan and cool on a wire rack, at least until they won’t burn your fingers. Of course, we were to busy eating the muffins to remember to take a picture of them outside of the muffin tin. To be updated with the next batch! Enjoy!
Auntie Julie’s Pumpkin Spice Muffins
Ingredients
Muffins
- ¾ cup unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks), softened
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature and lightly beaten
- 1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Streusel Topping
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, tightly packed
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 4 tbsp butter (½ stick), melted and cooled
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease the individual cups.
- For the streusel topping, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and mix with a fork until the mixture just comes together. You want this to be lumpy to get the "little balls of crunch," as Julie calls them. Set aside.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices to remove any lumps and evenly incorporate the spices. Set aside.
- In another bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and both sugars until creamy. Add in the eggs and mix well. Then, mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated.
- Evenly fill 12 lined muffin cups. Sprinkle the streusel over all of the tops, pressing it down gently so that it doesn't fall off when the muffins rise.
- Bake for 18 – 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove the muffins from the pan and let cool (if you can!) on a wire rack. Enjoy!