Ohai! Right, so i’m gonna start with a little confession…
I’m that girl who Instagram’s her Starbucks.
It’s shameful, I know. (Though, if you’re into that sorta thing you might as well go follow my Insta account. Just saying.)
I’m also that girl who, come October, gets obnoxiously passionate about Pumpkin Spice Latte’s. Can’t help it.
I mean, it’s Autumn in a cup… and Autumn in general is pretty awesome. Crunchy leaves just waiting to be jumped on, toffee apples, the beginning of ‘wooly jumper/scarf’ weather, cinnamon, a reason to dress up as the undead (love Halloween!), and obviously… PUMPKIN SPICE EVERYTHING!
So naturally, I thought i’d include these things in a super autumnal cake. The pumpkin, the cinnamon, the crunchy pecan topping to represent crunchy leaves, the salted caramel for the toffee apples…
Ok, not including the undead.
The pumpkin cake recipe was actually adapted from Cookie + Kate’s gorgeous Honey Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread recipe, and produced such moist yet crumbly muffins which I was super chuffed with! Highly recommend her blog!!
The salted caramel recipe was taken from Top With Cinnamon’s stunning cookbook… and again, I highly recommend checking this out too!
But anyways, back to the recipe…
Firstly I made the streusel by rubbing the cold butter into the dry ingredients to form a coarse breadcrumb texture. Then I left this to chill and harden in the fridge whilst I made the muffins.
For the muffins I mixed all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, throwing in a few tablespoons of a milled seed mix I’m loving at the moment – packed with flaxseed, pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds. Oh hello there Omega-3!
In a small dish, I dissolved the coffee with a splash of milk.
Then added this to the eggs, vanilla extract, oil and pumpkin puree in another large bowl, mixing till fully incorporated and even in colour.
I then added the pumpkin/egg mixture to the dry ingredients and whisked to remove any lumps… then stirred in the natural yoghurt.
I scooped the mix into a silicone muffin tray to ¾ full, topped with the streusel, then baked at 180°C for 15-20minutes till the streusel was golden brown and a skewer came away clean.
For the salted caramel, I placed the sugar and water into a heavy bottomed saucepan and heated to dissolve the sugar.
I then continued to heat till it became a golden brown colour, swirling the pan to mix. DO NOT STIR! Caramel don’t like cold spoons…
Once golden brown, I added the cream, butter and a sprinkling of salt… then continued to cook on a low heat for 5 minutes to thicken.
Once thickened, I removed from the heat and left to cool slightly before pouring into a piping bag and messily piped all over the muffins.
Caramel everywhere. Sorry not sorry.
Best when warm. With coffee. And another 5 muffins.
- For the pecan streusel:
- 130g plain flour
- 60g caster sugar
- 25g light brown sugar
- a pinch of cinnamon
- 85g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 100g pecans, roughly chopped
- For the pumpkin muffins:
- 120ml olive oil
- 2 large eggs
- 260g pumpkin puree
- 1tsp vanilla extract
- 2tbsp instant coffee
- splash of milk
- 275g plain flour
- 150g brown sugar
- ½tsp salt
- 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1tsp ground cinnamon
- ½tsp ground ginger
- ¼tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼tsp ground cloves
- 3tbsp (heaped) milled seeds, optional
- 100ml natural yoghurt
- For the salted caramel:
- 7tbsp granulated sugar
- 8tbsp water
- 8tbsp double cream
- 2tbsp salted butter
- salt to taste
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Rub the cold butter into the dry ingredients to form a coarse breadcrumb texture.
- Leave in the fridge to chill and harden whilst making the muffins.
- Preheat oven to 180°C.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, bicarb, salt, seeds and spices.
- In another large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla extract and pumpkin puree.
- In a small dish, dissolve the instant coffee with the splash of milk. Add to the pumpkin egg mixture.
- Gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, whisking to remove any lumps.
- Stir in the natural yoghurt.
- Scoop the mixture into a greased muffin tray so you fill it ¾ of the way up, then sprinkle on some of the chilled pecan streusel.
- Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes (depending on the size of the muffins) until the streusel is golden brown on the edges and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the muffin.
- Leave aside to cool.
- Place the sugar and water into a heavy bottomed saucepan and heat to dissolve the sugar.
- Continue to heat, swirling the pan (not stirring!), till it turns a golden brown colour.
- Add the cream, butter and a sprinkling of salt, then continue to cook on a low heat for approximately 5 minutes to thicken.
- Remove from heat and immediately drizzle over the muffins, or leave to cool slightly, pour into a piping bag and pipe onto the muffins.
Pumpkin Muffin Recipe adapted from Cookie + Kate.
Salted Caramel Recipe taken from Top With Cinnamon.
acornsandcustard.com 
These pumpkin muffins look so delicious, definitely perfect for the Fall! Loving all that streusel ontop and caramel drizzle.. great recipe!
Fantastic recipe! Love the step by step pictures! What restaurant have you had the best Pumpkin Spice Latte Muffins? Remember to add it to your Besty List! http://www.thebesty.com/acornsandcustard