Pecan Pumpkin Muffins
By: Angela LeMoine
Published: Tuesday, October 16, 2012 - 11:01am

Ingredients




2 cups flour
1/4 sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated on microplane
1/4 tsp salt
1 - 1 12 cups whole pecans
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup 100% pure pumpkin puree
2-3 Tbsp maple syrup

Preparation

1 Oven at 350 degrees. 2 In a small pan over medium low heat add the pecans (no oil, no butter, just a dry pan) and toast until lightly browned and fragrant. Once they have cooled enough to handles chop enough to get approx 1 cup worth of chopped pecans. Be sure to leave 12 whole for the tops of the muffins. 3 In a large bowl combine the flour, sugars, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Whisk until well combined. 4 Stir in the chopped pecans. 5 Add in the pumpkin puree, eggs, vanilla, butter and maple syrup. Stir until it is just combined, do not over mix or the muffins will be a bit tough. 6 Time to scoop! I always use an ice cream scoop to keep things consistent in size. Line the cupcake pan with liners and fill each. Place a single pecan on top of each.

About

What says fall more then pumpkins? Well, I'm going to put apples up there too but pumpkin is everywhere during the fall.... pumpkin spice coffee, pumpkin pie.... and today in my kitchen it was Pecan Pumpkin Muffins! Slightly sweet, moist, a hint of maple syrup and perfectly toasted pecans... a perfection way to start your morning or end your busy day. 
The funny thing about pumpkin, it wasn't until maybe 5 years ago that I even tried it, my friends pie and I was pleasantly surprised. I'll admit though, it wasn't until a year or so ago that I attempted a pumpkin recipe, a delicious pumpkin bread! So a couple days ago I picked up a couple cans of 100% pure pumpkin and figured lets roll with it and see what we could come up with.