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pumpkin pecan streusel muffins lined up on a wire cooling rack

pumpkin muffins with pecan streusel recipe

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Warmly spiced pumpkin muffins crowned with a buttery, cinnamon-scented pecan streusel topping. Baking up a cozy batch of these pumpkin muffins with pecan streusel will instantly have your home smelling like fall!

  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 12 muffins 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale

for the pecan streusel topping:

  • 1 cup pecan halves
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2/3 cup lightly packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 6 tablespoons cold butter, diced into cubes

for the pumpkin muffin batter:

  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 2 eggs, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree (the amount from a standard 15-ounce can)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract
  • 1 teaspoon fresh orange zest

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350℉ and prepare the pecan streusel topping. Reserve a handful of pecan halves (about 10-12 pieces should do it!) and toss the rest into a food processor or blender. Pulse a few times until lightly chopped, then add the flour, cinnamon, brown sugar, and maple syrup. Pulse a few more times until combined, then add the cold diced butter. Pulse lightly, just until the mixture turns to a chunky crumble. It’s good to have some fairly large clumps of butter in the mix; these are what turn into the crisp streusel topping later! Fetch that handful of pecan halves you set aside earlier and just use your hands to break each into a few pieces, adding them to the bowl of streusel topping. Refrigerate the topping while you work on the pumpkin muffin batter next. pecan streusel topping in a mixing bowl has a clumpy texture with prominent chunks of pecans
  2. Add the muffin batter dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice) to a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine.flour, leaveners, and spices are whisked together in a mixing bowl.
  3. Combine the wet ingredients in a separate mixing bowl: whisk the room temperature eggs, brown sugar, olive oil, pumpkin puree, vanilla, and orange zest together until smooth. the wet ingredient mixture in a mixing bowl has a deep orange coloring and a smooth, glossy texture.
  4. Combine the wet and dry ingredient mixtures together in a large mixing bowl and stir gently, just until the batter comes together. It’s okay if there are a few lumps remaining, they’ll work themselves out during baking. a large mixing bowl of pumpkin muffin batter has a thick, slightly lumpy texture
  5. Grease a 12-hole muffin pan (or 2 sixes like I have here) and equally distribute your pumpkin muffin batter between them. The cups will be pretty full! This will give you tall and fluffy, super moist muffins at the end.the pumpkin muffin batter is distributed between the cups of a 12 hole muffin pan
  6. Now it’s time for the fun part: adding that buttery pecan streusel! You want to top each muffin with a hefty pile of the topping, then press down gently so that the mixture sticks to the muffin batter.  If the larger chunks of pecan end up unevenly distributed, just rearrange them so that each of your streusel topped pumpkin muffins has a pecan piece or two on top.pumpkin pecan streusel topping is added to the top of each cup of muffin batter
  7. Transfer your muffin tins to the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the topping is crisp and golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs on it. the baked pumpkin pecan muffins are removed from the oven and set on a kitchen towel
  8. Cool the muffins in the pan for about 5 minutes, then gently remove them. If you have buttered the muffin cups enough (or used paper liners!) they should release cleanly and easily. Arrange your pumpkin pecan streusel muffins  on wire cooling racks to cool completely and enjoy as soon as you like!the pumpkin muffins with pecan streusel are removed from the baking pans and arranged on wire racks to cool

Notes

  • The secret to this recipe is to really load each pumpkin muffin with streusel topping. That said, you'll likely end up with more pecan streusel topping than you can use. Feel free to reduce the proportion if you don’t want leftovers. Personally, I grab an apple from the fruit bowl and use the leftovers in a quick Apple Streusel bake, so keep an eye out for that recipe 😉 Or, simply bake the streusel on a parchment paper lined baking sheet for 15 minutes alongside the muffins and then enjoy it as a topping for yogurt or ice cream.
  • These pumpkin pecan streusel muffins are best enjoyed the day you bake them, as the crispy streusel topping loses its crunch when stored in an airtight container overnight. They’re still great though! We have happily eaten these days later and they are always delicious as ever. 
  • Author: Kelly
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Category: Baked Goods
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 muffin
  • Calories: 454
  • Sugar: 29 g
  • Sodium: 176.9 mg
  • Fat: 22.9 g
  • Carbohydrates: 59.2 g
  • Protein: 5.9 g
  • Cholesterol: 46.3 mg

Find it online: https://crescentmoonkitchen.com/pumpkin-muffins-with-pecan-streusel/