Nutty Pumpkin-Pear Crumble Muffins

Phew! That title was a mouth-full… and so are these muffins! A mouth-full of heaven! :) These pumpkin-pear nut muffins with a streusel topping blend the best of autumny-wintery goodness. All of the necessary ingredients can be found easily at any farmers market or local grocery store. So let’s get going and cook up a killer batch of muffin madness!

 

Ingredients:

(For the muffins)

• 1/2 of a large pumpkin
• 1 pear
• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

(For the streusel topping)

• 2 tbsp. flour
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 3 tbsp. light brown sugar

 

Step One: Preheat your oven to 175 C (350 F). Get your pumpkin de-seeded, peeled, chopped, and ready to roast in the oven.

Chop into small-ish pieces to ensure even and quick roasting.

Step Two: Line your baking pan with baking paper. Spread your chopped pieces of pumpkin over the paper and “season” with the desired amount of vanilla extract, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stick the baking pan into the pre-heated oven and let the pumpkin cook until easily pierced with a fork (around 20-30 minutes).

Step Three: Pour the roasted pumpkin pieces into a blender and blend until you get a pumpkin puree.

Step Four: Add the milk to the pumpkin puree and set aside.

Step Five: Add the dry muffin ingredients (1 1/2 cup flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon) into a medium bowl. Whisk together.

Step Six: In a large bowl, beat together the 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup brown sugar, and 1 tsp. vanilla. Once the mixture reaches a creamy texture, alternately add spoonfuls of the flour mixture and the pumpkin puree.

Step Seven: Chop up your walnuts and pear. Stir into the muffin batter.

Step Eight: Get your streusel topping ready! In a small bowl, use a fork to mix together the 2 tbsp. of softened butter, 2 tbsp. flour, and 2 tbsp. brown sugar.

Step Nine: Spoon the muffin batter into a muffin tin (or, in my case, a silicone muffin mold). Use your fingers to sprinkle the struesel topping onto the top of the muffins. Stick your muffins in the pre-heated oven, and bake for about 25 minutes. I always insert either a toothpick or an ice pick into the muffins at regular intervals in order to check if the muffins are fully baked. If the toothpick comes out clean, your muffins are ready to go!

Let the muffins cool down for a few minutes before removing from the muffin mold. Transfer your muffins to a cooling rack and let them chill out for a good 10-20 minutes before stuffing them in your mouth! Enjoy! :)

Have a wonderful day, and I’ll see you all tomorrow!