Sweet Wildflowers

I have been making these pumpkin muffins for years and they have always been a hit. They are incredibly moist from the pumpkin and slightly crunchy from the crumb topping and pepitas. The warm spices make the house smell like fall and are the perfect addition to add to your favorite muffin recipes.

These muffins are used with simple ingredients that can be mixed together by hand without any fancy kitchen gadgets. They are delicious and perfectly moist. There are a few key ingredients that are used to help these muffins stay super moist. First and foremost is the pumpkin puree. This is what gives these muffins their signature taste but also adds so much moisture. I also love to add a bit of sour cream or greek yogurt. This adds a subtle tanginess and helps give the muffins a nice soft texture. Lastly, I love to use a neutral oil when making muffins. While my favorite butter would add wonderful flavor, if find the use of oil instead locks in the moisture giving the muffin a nice tender crumb. Let’s face it, if we want that butter flavor, we can always add some nice, softened butter to our muffins after they are done baking!

This muffin batter is super simple to put together. Add all of the wet ingredients and mix together in a large bowl. Then, mix all of the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Combine both mixtures together using a spatula. I love how quickly these muffins come together. It makes them excellent to whip up for breakfast.

When it comes to muffin tins, mine is actually pretty old. I was lucky enough to inherit it from my late mother. When I first moved out on my own, I couldn’t wait to buy a new one and bake in it, but I soon realized that the new ones aren’t necessarily better. Everything always baked up nicer in my mom’s old dingy muffin tin, and I couldn’t figure out why. It turns out her dingy old muffin tin was aluminum and probably one of the best vessels to bake anything in. While these are fairly inexpensive, they are a bit harder to find in a regular store. And honestly nothing beats a perfectly imperfect muffin tin given to you by your mom. I get to think of her every time I use it and to me that makes this dingy old muffin tin priceless!

While testing these muffins, I used pepitas in both the crumb topping and the filling, but found that it was too much crunch and that it changed the flavor profile of the muffins. While testing I found that the perfect ratio is to sprinkle a few of the pepitas on the tops of each muffin. This ended up giving them the perfect crunch without overpowering the whole muffin.

Baked to perfection. I just love a good soft muffin top and that is exactly what you get with these muffins. It’s easy to just want to rip off the tops of these and eat them like that, but that is a big reason I decided to put filling in the middle. So, every bite has different texture and flavor. This makes these muffins absolutely sublime from the muffin tops all the way to the muffin bottoms and everything in between.

Ingredients

1 cup Canned Pumpkin Puree

3/4 cups Sugar

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Neutral Oil

1/4 cup Sour Cream

2 Whole Eggs

1 1/4 cups Flour

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 tsp Cinnamon

Fresh grated nutmeg (to taste)

Topping/Filling

8 tbsp Butter (softened)

1/2 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1 cup Flour

1/2 cup Roasted Pepitas

Muffin Batter Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine both sugars, eggs, oil, sour cream, pumpkin puree, and vanilla. Using a whisk, mix together until everything is fully combined. Set aside.

In medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and freshly grated nutmeg. Mix until all of the ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the flour mixture.

In stages, gently add the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture. Mix fully after each addition using a rubber spatula. Once completely mixed, set aside and begin to make the crumb topping/filling mixture.

Crumb Topping/Filling Directions

In medium bowl, combine the softened butter, both sugars, flour, and cinnamon. If using unsalted butter than make sure to add 1/4 tsp of salt. I personally like to use salted butter whenever making crumb topping or fillings, so I omit the step of adding extra salt. Using a rubber spatula or your hands, (my preferred kitchen tools) Mix all of your ingredients together. Optional, squeeze the mixture together in your hands to create small cobble stone clumps. Sprinkle the pepitas on the tops of each muffin, instead of adding them directly into the crumb mixture.

Assembly/ Baking

Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake/muffin baking liners. Place 2 tablespoons of muffin batter into the bottom of each cup. Next, place 1 tablespoon of crumb mixture and distribute evenly over each of the muffins. This will be the filling. Repeat that whole process of adding 2 tablespoons of batter and the remaining crumb mixture over the tops of each muffin. This recipe should make 12 to 14 regular sized muffins.

Place muffins into preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. There are different ways you can test to make sure your muffins are fully baked. The first is the spring back test, you take your fingers and gently tap the tops of the muffins, if they spring back, they are done and ready to be removed from the oven. if they stay deflated, they need more time to finish baking. The other way you can test for doneness is the toothpick test. You can gently insert a toothpick or paring knife into the center of the muffin, for these muffins you want a tiny bit of crumbs to stick to the toothpick this is for optimal moistness. If your toothpick is gooey and wet place muffins back into the oven to finish baking. If your toothpick is completely dry, you run the risk of having dry muffins which isn’t too common with these muffins because of the extra moisture we get from the pumpkin puree.

Once done, remove the muffins from the oven and allow to cool slightly. These muffins are great served warm with softened butter, or even at room temperature as a snack on the go. Whichever way you choose to eat these muffins, be sure to store your leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days for optimal freshness.