Pumpkin Apple Spice Muffins

I love this combo of flavors. And I love muffins. A lot.

I had one can of pumpkin left from Christmas and decided to put it to good use.

These are full of soft, sweet apple bits and beautiful paired with pumpkin pie spices. These are especially delicious when paired with a hot cup of tea or coffee.


Pumpkin Apple Spice Muffins
Adapted from: Mels Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients

1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice**
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 Granny Smith apple, peeled and finely chopped

Topping:
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice**
3 tablespoons sugar


Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine pumpkin, butter, and eggs in another bowl and add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Fold in chopped apple and spoon into greased muffin pans, filling two-thirds full.

Combine 3 tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice; sprinkle evenly over muffins.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans immediately, and cool on wire racks.

**Tip: If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, use the following combination: 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ginger and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon cloves. Mix together and voila - you have the equivalent of 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice.

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Banana & Butterscoth Muffin Tops

I have a twin brother and we are opposite in almost every way.

He’s tall, I’m short. He’s pale, I’m tanned. He doesn’t like whip cream, I could eat it for dinner. He rebelled growing up, I was perfect. He can say no to dessert, I can’t. He has no cavities, I…

Among our many differences (some possibly exaggerated) one is that he can quote TV shows and movie lines whereas I can hardly remember what movie I watched last week. Although I’m no Seinfeld addict and nor do I find it necessary to make reference to different episodes in all of life’s situations, I do remember the Seinfeld episode where Elaine had a million dollar idea and suggests just selling the tops of muffins. Brilliant! Her advice for Lippman, her former boss, whose muffin business didn’t seem to be working was to “Pop the top, toss the stump;” so eloquent. If you’ve seen that episode you’ll know the rest of the hilarity that ensues.

I have always preferred the tops of muffins and have been known to leave the “stump” for my dear husband, much to his dismay. This past weekend I finally purchased a muffin top pan and could hardly wait to use it. After baking with it I’ve concluded that everyone must own one!

As you’ve probably noticed, these are not your average muffins. The thought occurred to me that these butterscotch, banana, streusel topped muffins would taste even better if I warmed it up and added vanilla ice-cream, caramel sauce, sliced bananas and pecans.

Consider this fair warning… these are sinfully delicious and as cellulite inducing as they sound. I may have purchased some Spanks. Also, I shamefully write this as this is the second batch I’ve made this week. My better half and I polished the first batch off in record time. Naturally, I had to bake them again for the sole purpose of taking pictures and blogging.

Buy a muffin top pan, bake these and add all the toppings!


Banana & Butterscotch Muffin Tops
Adapted from: Diana's Desserts

Ingredients

Topping
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Muffins
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3-4 medium very, very ripe bananas
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup canola or corn oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 butterscotch chips

Directions

Position an oven rack on the middle shelf of oven. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease muffin top cups.

In a small bowl, mix together the topping ingredients until crumbly. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk until well blended. In a large bowl, combine the bananas, brown sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer (stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or hand held mixer) on medium speed until well blended with only small bits of banana visible. Pour in the dry ingredients and gently stir with a rubber spatula just until blended. If using nuts, add them when the flour is almost blended and stir to incorporate.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin top pan, dividing batter evenly. They will be almost full. Gently tap the pan on the counter top to settle the batter. Bake until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick or a cake tester inserted in the center of 1 muffin top comes out clean, about 10 minutes (I took mine out at 9). Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes, and then carefully remove the muffin tops from the pan and set them on the rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

BlackBerry Pie Muffins

It's no secret that I love crumb toppings and muffins tops. Edible muffin tops, of course. Not the unnecessary spillage over my waistline that occurs with all of these treats ;)

If the opportunity presents itself I will likely add a streusel or crumb topping to any baked good. The additional butter and sugar has yet to disappoint me. These muffins were no exception and are likely the reason I was drawn to this recipe.

On top of having delicious tops (pardon the pun) these tender muffins were bursting with fresh, delicious, tart blackberries.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I love baking with all of the fresh fruit the summer season provides. Blackberries are a great source of antioxidants. Did you know you’re more likely to stay younger, healthier, and live longer with lots of blackberries? Thus, no need to justify why you eat one or twelve of these... they're benefiting your youthfulness!

Will I make these moist, fabulous, large muffin top pie tasting delights again? Absolutely! Especially if there is the chance that I could live one day longer and look that much younger!


Blackberry Pie Muffins
Adapted from: The Hazel Bloom

Ingredients

Topping
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Muffins
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
12 ounces fresh blackberries, cut in half

Directions

Heat your oven to 350° F, and line 12 muffin cups with liners (or grease the cups).

In a small bowl, mix together the topping ingredients until crumbly. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the egg and then stir in the sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla, and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, along with the buttermilk, and stir just until moistened. Add the blackberries and stir until well incorporated.

Fill your muffin cups almost to the top with the batter. Sprinkle the topping evenly over each cupcake. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes, until they're golden brown and the tops spring back when you poke at 'em. (I look mine out at 23 minutes).

Pear Walnut Muffins

Pears are lovely to bake with!

The pears in this recipe were soft and gave a lot of moistness to the muffins. They paired (no pun intended) beautifully with the spices and walnut crunch. The relatively delicate flavor of pear was strong, which I loved.

This recipe made 12 large muffins and 9 mini muffins... you know I can't resist making a two bite anything! These muffins didn't last long as they were wonderful out of the oven but even better the day after they were baked!

As we should all be eating more fruit, it isn't hard to justify a second muffin!


Pear Walnut Muffins
Adapted from: The Cookie Shop
For measurement conversions use this calculator.

Ingredients

Muffins
3 to 4 pears, peeled and cut into chunks
100 grams walnuts, coarsely chopped
250 grams plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
180 grams sugar
125 grams melted butter, cooled
2 large eggs
100 mL milk

For the streusel topping
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup plain flour
30 grams cold butter, cut in bits

Directions

Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter a 12 cup muffin pan.

Make the streusel
In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar and flour. Add the butter and rub with your fingers until the mixture resembles corse meal, with smaller and larger clumps. Reserve in the refrigerator while making the batter.

Make the muffin batter
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and nutmeg. In a smaller bowl, mix eggs and milk. Add pear chunks and walnuts to the flour mixture and toss with your fingers. Add the milk/egg mixture and the melted butter and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until all the flour is incorporated. Divide the batter evenly between the cups and top with the streusel. Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until the muffins are golden and a toothpick comes out clean.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

...make these!

These are so delicious! Little mini perfect bite size pieces of sunshine!

After you take these tart, fabulous, lemony mini muffins out of the oven you dunk them in a lemon sugar liquid mixture and after they have cooled you top them off with a lemon glaze. Delicious, right?

This is such a versatile recipe. You can make mini muffins or a couple of loaves. Or, go for the hybrid version like I did and split the batter to bake both! If you like lemon these definitely won't disappoint. Enjoy!

 Mini Lemon Muffins
Adapted from: Barefoot Contessa Parties!

Ingredients

1/2 pound unsalted butter at room temp
2 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
4 eggs at room temp
1/3 grated lemon zest  (6 to 8 lemons)
3 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of salt
3/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice divided
3/4 cup buttermilk at room temp
1 tsp vanilla

2 cups of confectioners sugar, sifted
4 TBS fresh squeezed lemon juice

Directions

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease mini muffin tins (and an 8x4 inch bread pan if you want to make a loaf).

Cream butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer or hand mixer for 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, one at a time, and the lemon zest.

In a medium bowl sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another small bowl, mix 1/4 cup of lemon juice, the buttermilk and the vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour. Divide batter into the bread pan and the mini muffin pans (only fill cups halfway). Bake bread pan for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until cake tester comes out clean. Bake mini muffins for 11-13 minutes and rinse and regrease muffin tins after every batch.

While the cake is baking, combine 1/2 cup of granulated sugar plus 1/2 cup of lemon juice in a small saucepan on medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let cool. When the cakes are done, cool on a rack with a cookie sheet underneath for 5 minutes. Dunk the mini muffins into the sugar and lemon mixture and pour mixture over loaves and saturate them. Allow cakes to cool completely before glazing.

For the glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice in a bowl, mixing with a wire whisk until smooth. Pour over the top of the cakes and allow the glaze to drizzle down the sides.

Banana Crumb Muffins

This is a very basic recipe for banana muffins that is absolutely fantastic. If you enjoy banana bread you will love this recipe. The ripe bananas make this muffin ultra moist and delicious. The best part about these muffins is the streusel, it goes perfect with banana. If you want to add something extra to the recipes, you could throw in some nuts or chocolate chips (I added both!). If you are looking for an amazing tasting banana cinnamon muffin recipe, give this one a try. Enjoy!


Ingredients

Banana muffins
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 ripe bananas (mashed)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg (lightly beaten)
1/3 cup butter (melted)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional, I added)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional, I added)

Cinnamon crumb topping
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 375° F and line 12 muffins cups. In a large bowl sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. In a separate bowl combine bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moist and combined. Do not over mix. Spoon batter into prepared muffins cups.

In a separate bowl mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon of butter with two butter knives until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle streusel generously over muffins before baking.

Place muffins in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. I took mine out at 17 minutes and the were moist and delicious.

Sugar Donut Mini Muffins

Puppies. Babies. Cupcakes. It seems to be a reoccurring theme that when things are miniaturized, they become adorable.

More mini muffins, I know. Get use to it; these are my newest obsession. So cute. So edible. So guilt free :)

You’re gonna love these. They taste just like a donut, but they are baked in muffin tins!

After these bake you let them cool (for a brief moment), dunk the top of the muffin into the melted butter and then roll them around in the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Once the butter soaks in, the flavor is much more pronounced. You are really going to need to try these, both because they are delicious and because they are ridiculously simple.

Sugar Donut Muffins
Adapted from: Baking Bites

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking power
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tablespoons melted butter, for dipping
1/2 cup sugar, for rolling
1 tablespoon cinnamon, for rolling

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease muffin tin with cooking spray or butter.

In a large bowl beat sugar and egg together until light and fluffy. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Pour into sugar/egg mixture and stir until well combined. Add in vegetable oil, milk, and vanilla extract. Mix well. Pour into muffin tins, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake for about 12-14 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

Melt the butter in a small bowl in the microwave. Stir together sugar and cinnamon in another small bowl. When the muffins are done allow them to cool for a few minutes then dunk the tops of the muffins in the melted butter and then the cinnamon-sugar mixture!

 

There was a nosy culprit interested in the happenings ;-)

 

Mini Pecan Pie Muffins

Mini muffins = fabulous excuse to enjoy more goodies!

You have to try these. There are only five ingredients and they do taste like pecan pie!

Now you have no excuse not to have any baked goods for company on short notice.

I bet you can't eat just one!


Mini Pecan Pie Muffins
Adapted from: Make-Ahead Meals

Ingredients

1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup flour
2/3 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Spray 20 mini muffin cups with nonstick spray (I used butter); set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix all of the ingredients together. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups evenly.

Bake for 17-19 minutes. The edges will be crispy. Do not overbake. Remove the muffins and cool on a wire rack.