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Pumpkin Streusel Muffins
A personal-serving size pumpkin coffee cake, made even more personally exquisite for the fact that my @cuisinart 14-Cup Food Processor made short work of pureeing a giant hunk of roasted calabaza squash (sugar pumpkin would have been my preference, but this worked wonderfully!), crumbling the crumbliest of walnut-brown sugar crumble topping, and could easily have made the pumpkin pie-spaced cake layer too.
Pro tip is to make sure you both sprinkle crumble on top of each muffin and also squeeze together hunks of crumble to scatter overtop for a divinely crunchy coating belying a delicate, moist and tender cake layer!
These make for a truly fabulous housewarming or hostess gift that will have all your friends loving you extra, so prepare for many hugs and frequent invitations.
Pumpkin Streusel Muffins
Prep: 35 minutes
Cook: 1 hour 30 minutes
Makes: 12 muffins
INGREDIENTS
Pumpkin Puree:
1 (2.3 pound) sugar pumpkin, cut in half and seeds removed
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Pinch salt
Streusel:
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
7 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of kosher salt
1/3 cup raw walnuts
Muffins:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch ground cloves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 ½ cups pumpkin puree
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
¼ cup full-fat plain Greek yogurt
¼ cup melted coconut oil
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
*You can replace all spices with a 2-3 teaspoons of good quality Pumpkin Pie spice in a pinch! I like to add some extra cardamom to mine, but adding spices individually allows you to customize to your favorite spice preferences.
INSTRUCTIONS
Make the Pumpkin Puree:
•Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place cut side up onto the parchment paper and roast in the oven 40-50 minutes until very tender with pierced with the tip of a knife. It should look very dark along the skin and edges since we want to let this over roast a bit to allow flavors to concentrate and some of the extra liquid to evaporate for a very dense eventual pumpin puree.*
•Remove from the oven and allow pumpkin to cool completely, then scrape the tender squash out of the pumpkin skin and place in the food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse until very smooth. Measure 1 1/2 cups of the puree and reserve any remaining puree for another use. Clean the food processor.
Make the Streusel:
•In the same food processor fitted with the blade attachment, add the butter, flour, brown sugar, cardamom, and salt. Run the food processor consistently until mixed and a crumble consistency forms that’s pea-sized (it will look loose at first, but keep mixing and eventually it comes together in a crumble form). Add the walnuts and pulse to chop them into the butter mixture.
•Keep the streusel cold in the fridge.
Make the Pumpkin Muffins:
•Reduce the oven to 375ºF. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin liners..
•In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
•In a large bowl, add the pumpkin puree, sugar, dark brown sugar, applesauce, Greek yogurt, coconut oil, large eggs, and vanilla extract. Using a hand mixer, blend until just combined and smooth.
•Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin puree mixture and gently fold to combine using a rubber spatula.
•Fill each muffin liner 2/3 of the way up (about 1/3 cup per muffin). Evenly top the muffins with the streusel mixture (about 1 tablespoon per muffin), making sure to pinch a few clumps together to top each muffin. Everyone knows the crumb is the best part, so load them up!
•Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then remove to a baking rack and cool completely. Enjoy!
*If after pureeing your pumpkin is still excessively liquid, place it in a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and allow to drain 10 minutes. Proceed as usual. You can drink the pumpkin juice, simmer to a syrupy consistency for use anywhere you would use a simple syrup, or discard.
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