Pumpkin Muffins with Pecan Streusel

These moist pumpkin spice muffins are topped with a delicious crunchy pecan streusel. They are perfect for breakfast, as a snack or anytime really! Enjoy!

I have been eating these spiced pumpkin muffins all week. They are the perfect quick fall breakfast or snack. The pumpkin muffins are full of delicious warm autumn spices and have just the right amount of pumpkin flavour. The pureed pumpkin keeps these muffins super moist and full of flavour. The muffins are topped with a delicious crunchy peach streusel. The streusel adds both a hint of sweetness and nuttiness to these already delicious muffins!

These pumpkin spice muffins are perfect to throw together to enjoy during the week. Made with basic ingredients these pumpkin pecan muffins come together quickly and are ready in under an hour. The recipe below is written using a stand mixer but these muffins can easily be made without - just use a whisk for the wet ingredients and a spatula or wooden spoon to combine.

The pecan streusel topping adds a delicious crunch to the pumpkin muffins. The pecan streusel has pecans, pumpkin seeds, brown sugar, oats, flour, cinnamon and butter which all together create a delicious crumb topping for the pumpkin muffins. Full of nutty flavour with just a hint of spice - don’t skimp on the topping!

Pumpkin Muffins with Pecan Streusel

Makes 24 muffins

Ingredients

For the Muffins

2 ½ c flour 

1 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp baking soda 

½ tsp salt 

1 tsp cinnamon 

½ tsp nutmeg 

¼ tsp ground cloves 

¼ tsp ground pepper 

1 ½ c pumpkin puree 

¾ c sugar

½ c brown sugar

2 eggs 

½ c vegetable oil 

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ sour cream or greek yogurt 

For the Pecan Streusel Topping

½ c flour 

½ c oats 

½ c pumpkin seeds 

½ c chopped pecans 

¼ sugar 

1 tsp cinnamon 

½ c butter, melted 

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners and set aside.

In medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together pumpkin, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla, and sour cream until combined. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until combined. Evenly divide batter between muffin wells. Liners should be approx. 2/3s full.

To make the pecan streusel: In a bowl stir together flour, oats, pumpkin seeds, pecans, sugar and cinnamon. Stir the melted butter into the dry mixture until large corse crumbs form. Sprinkle each muffin with streusel topping.

Bake for 18-20 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 

Apple Crisp Bundt Cake

This delicious and moist cinnamon spiced apple crisp bundt cake will be your new favourite fall cake!

Apples, oats and cinnamon make for the perfect fall flavour combination. This bundt cake is a fun twist on apple crisp. Today’s recipe is the perfect treat for a cozy fall morning or afternoon - it pairs perfectly with a big cup of coffee.

The bundt cake is a delicious cinnamon spice cake layered with apple filling and topped with a delicious oat crumble. This is the perfect cake to bake on a lazy Sunday morning. It will make your house smell SO good and as an added bonus you will have a delicious apple cake to enjoy throughout the week (if it lasts that long). Spiced with cinnamon this bundt cake will melt in your melt. The layers of apple, cinnamon and oats makes for a beautiful looking bundt cake that would make for a simple, yet delicious dessert to share with friends. To make it extra special I would recommend serving it with ice cream. Is there anything better than apples a la mode?

What Kind of Apples to Use?

You can use whatever apples you have on hand. This recipe is perfect for using those apples you picked apple picking. I often like to use a mix of varieties in my baked goods. Usually I use gala or honey crisps. For this bundt cake I used Ginger Gold apples as that is what I had at home.

Apple Crisp Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

Apple Filling

• 4 apples, peeled and chopped (approx. 2 1/2 c)

• 1/4 c brown sugar

• 1/4 c flour

• 1 tsp cinnamon

Oat Crumble

• 1 c oats

• 1/2 c flour

• 1/2 brown sugar

• 1/2 unsalted butter, melted

Spice Cake

• 3 c flour

• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 3/4 c butter

• 1 1/2 c sugar

• 3 eggs

• 1/2 c milk

• 3/4 c sour cream

Directions:

For the Apple Filling: In a medium sized bowl, mix together chopped apples, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Set aside.

For the Oat Crumble: In a small bowl, stir together the oats, flour and brown sugar. Mix in the melted butter until the large crumbs form, set aside.

For the Spice Cake: Pre-heat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a bundt cake pan and set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt, set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment over medium speed, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time, scrapping down the side of the bowl after each addition.

With the mixer on low, add in the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, mix until just combined. Stir in the sour cream.

Pour half of the cake batter evenly into the prepared bundt cake pan. Evenly spread out all of the apple filling mixture over the batter. Pour the remaining cake batter evenly on top. Finally, evenly spread out the oat crumble mixture on top of the batter. Press down lightly to allow the crumble to stick to the batter.

Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. When the cake is done, remove it from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before transferring the cake to a wire rack to cool completely. Store any leftovers in an air tight container.

Lemon Meringue Cream Puffs

A fun twist on lemon meringue - these delicious cream puffs are filled with a bright and light lemon curd filling and topped with a golden meringue crown.

I am so excited to share this new recipe with you guys! It’s been a while since I’ve had the opportunity to get in the kitchen and test new recipes for the blog! I have been wanting to make Lemon Meringue Cream Puffs for a while now. I could just picture how beautiful the cream puffs would look with the toasted meringue on top. Plus I love using my kitchen torch!

The combination of the tart lemon curd with the sweet meringue is delicious. I made my lemon curd with limoncello liqueur but you can always sub it out for lemon juice (you can follow this recipe here). I made these for a dinner party my friend was hosting. Each course was paired with a different cocktail. So instead of pairing my dessert with a drink - I choose to make a boozy dessert! They were a huge hit with everyone at the party! I love a dessert that is simple and easy to eat.

Pate a Choux

I have been loving making pate a choux - ever since I first made these chocolate cream puffs! The Pate a Choux pastry is cooked first on the stove then in the oven. Technically you just need water, butter, flour and eggs to make choux - but I like to add a bit of sugar and salt to my recipe. I’ve also seen it made with milk - but I have yet to try a recipe with milk and have stuck to the traditional water only dough. The pastry rises due to the steam trapped in the pastry. The puffs are airy and light with a golden brown crust. You want your choux to be light and airy on the inside and crisp on the outside.

Whipped Lemon Curd Cream Filling

I filled these lemon meringue cream puffs with two fillings. One is a lemon whipped cream and the other is lemon curd. I used the lemon curd to flavour my whipped cream. It is a lighter filling - which is pipped into the cream puff first. The lemon curd is then pipped into the cream puff creating a more intensely flavoured centre.

Lemon Meringue Cream Puffs

Ingredients

Pate a Choux

1 c water

1/2 c butter, cut into cubes

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

1 c flour

4 eggs

Lemon Curd

3 egg yolks

¾  c sugar

¼ c water

2 tbsp limoncello liqueur

Zest from lemon

2 tbsp butter, cut into cubes

Whipped Cream

1 1/2 c heavy cream (35%)

2 tbsp powdered sugar

Meringue

3 egg whites

1 c sugar

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 425F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside

In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, combine the water, butter, salt & sugar. Simmer until the butter has melted and the mixture comes to a light boil. Take the mixture off the heat and stir in the flour with a wooden spoon. Place the mixture back on the heat and continue to stir until the mixture starts to come off the sides of the pan and a ball forms.

Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool for 4-5 minutes. Stir in eggs one at a time. The mixture will break or come apart with each addition but should come back together before you add the additional egg. Your pastry should be shinny and of a smooth consistency.

Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip (I used a coupler) and pipe about 2 inches apart onto baking sheet. Use a small amount of water to smooth out peak on each dough mound.

Bake for 10 minutes for at 425F, then drop oven temperature to 375F and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Allow shells to cool completely before filling.

To make the Lemond Curd - In a saucepan combine egg yolks, sugar, water, limoncello and zest. Simmer over medium heat, stir constantly until mixture starts to thicken and boil. Allow mixture to boil for 2-3 minutes then stir in butter. Boil for an additional 1-2 minutes then remove from heat. Allow to cool completely.

To make the lemon whipped cream - In the bowl of stand mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk together heavy cream and powdered sugar. Whisk over high speed until medium to stiff peaks form - about 1 to 2 minutes. Do not over whip. Fold half of the lemon curd into the whipped cream.

To make the frosting - Over a double boiler heat together the egg white and sugar for 5 -7 minutes, whisking constantly. Transfer mixture to a clean kitchenaid mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on high for 5 - 7 minutes or until stiff glossy peaks form.

To Assemble - Fill a pipping bag fitted with a round tip (Wilton 12 or a coupler works well) with the lemon whipped cream. Poke your pipping tip into the bottom of a cooled cream puff shell. Pipe the lemon whipped cream filling into the cream puff until about 2/3rds full. Fill a second pipping bag fitted with a round tip with the remaining lemon curd. Pipe the lemon curd into the bottom of the cream puffs layering it at the bottom of the lemon whipped cream. Fill a piping bag fitted with a large star tip with the meringue. Pipe meringue onto the tops of the cream puffs. Using a kitchen torch brown meringue.