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    Home » BREADS

    Spiced Pumpkin Muffins with Applesauce

    October 2, 2016 17 Comments

    Pumpkin muffins made with fall spices, applesauce, and golden raisins, topped with pumpkin seed streusel.

    How is it possible I've never posted a muffin here? I've made coffee cakes, breads, and even cinnamon rolls. But never a muffin. So after more than five years of blogging, I'm finally posting one for fall - pumpkin muffins!! And it's all thanks to Karen at the Karen's Kitchen Stories blog!

    Karen's Kitchen Stories Blog

    Karen's blog has been one of my favorites for a very long time. She's a master baker, and has a well-earned reputation for bread baking - as witnessed by the number of bread recipes on her blog, a tab for Bread Baking 101, and a roundup she periodically does of bread recipes she sees around the internet called The Bread Box.

    I encourage you to visit her blog and try ANY of her bread recipes. She knows what she's doing, and if I'd had time, it's what I would have made for you. It hard to narrow down what I recommend for a starting place, but her Bollilo Rolls (a Mexican version of French bread), Cinnamon Apple Twist Bread, and her Crusty Cheese and Onion Bread are among the 20 that caught my eye.

    Pumpkin muffins made with fall spices, applesauce, and golden raisins, topped with pumpkin seed streusel.

    I decided, however, to head in a muffin direction since I (and obviously my blog) were feeling very muffin deprived, and made her Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins. And let's just say, I've had 4 muffins today, my husband has had 3, and we froze half of them so we can have muffins next time we have a muffin emergency. I like the fact these muffins aren't overwhelmingly sweet, have just the right balance of fall spices, and gives a whisper of apple mixed in with the pumpkin. I wanted a streusel topping, so I took Karen's streusel recipe from her Cream Cheese Filled Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins, and it was perfect. The only change I made was to add some salted pumpkin seeds to the topping.

    Swapping Out Butter for Olive Oil

    I got all ready to make these once, and realized I didn't have enough butter. Since I wasn't whipping the butter to make a frosting, I swapped out half of the butter for olive oil. Here's the ratio:

    When swapping butter for olive oil, use a 3:4 ratio. So if a recipe calls for 1 cup butter, use ¾ cup olive oil. 

    When I did it, I used 4 tablespoons butter and 3 tablespoon olive oil. Olive oil works well with pumpkin, and I couldn't tell the difference at all.

    How to Make a Small Batch of Applesauce

    I don't always have applesauce on hand, but almost always have apples. If you need to make a quick batch for this recipe, here's all you need do.

    Peel and core 2 large or 2 ½ medium apples. Thinly slice. You should have 3 cups when done.

    Pile into a medium pan with ¼ cup water and 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Simmer over medium-low heat until very soft. Either add to the pumpkin batter as is, or use an immersible blender to make a coarse apple sauce. I typically do it right in the pot.

    You should end up with 1 cup fresh applesauce.

    Baking Spiced Pumpkin Muffins at High Altitude

    I bake at 7100 feet, but Karen's recipe was for baking them at sea level. If you live at high altitudes like I do, make these adjustments:

    Use 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda instead of 2 teaspoons.

    Adjust the baking powder down slightly from ½ teaspoon to ⅜ teaspoon.

    Otherwise, the muffin could rise too much too quickly and collapse on themselves. Or worse, puff up over the muffin pan and break up a bit. They'll still taste fine, but they won't be pretty...

    The baking time should be the same as at sea level.

    Convert Pumpkin Muffins into Pumpkin Loaf

    Lightly butter 2 loaf pans, and pour the batter into the pans. Bake at the same temperature for 45 minutes.

    Either skip the streusel topping, leave it on the top, or stir it into the batter by sprinkling it on top and swiping a rubber spatula through it a couple of times.

    More Pumpkin Muffins and Breads

    I absolutely adore pumpkin muffins, and really any kind of pumpkin breads. If you feel the same way, go check these out!

    Boozy Pumpkin Bread

    Pumpkin Spice Banana Muffins

    Pumpkin Pie Spoon Bread

    Cranberry Pumpkin Loaf with Chocolate Chips

    Print Recipe
    5 from 4 votes

    Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins with Pumpkin Seed Streusel

    Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins with Pumpkin Seed Streusel Recipe Type : Muffin Author: Susan Pridmore
    Prep Time25 mins
    Cook Time25 mins
    Total Time50 mins
    Servings: 24 medium muffins
    Author: Susan Pridmore

    Ingredients

    Streusel Topping

    • ½ cup all purpose flour
    • ¼ cup packed brown sugar
    • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt ⅛ teaspoon salt
    • 3 tablespoons rolled oats
    • 1 tablespoon salted pumpkin seeds
    • 4 tablespoons unsalted cold butter cut into small cubes

    Muffins

    • 3 ⅓ cups 15 ounces all-purpose flour
    • 2 teaspoons baking soda
    • ½ teaspoon baking powder
    • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
    • ½ teaspoon ground clove
    • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
    • 2 teaspoons kosher salt or 1 teaspoon salt
    • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
    • 2 cups sugar
    • 4 large eggs
    • 1 cup applesauce
    • 1 cup canned pumpkin puree not pie filling
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • ⅔ cup apple or orange juice I used orange juice
    • 1 ½ cups golden raisins

    Instructions

    Streusel Topping

    • To make the streusel, add the flour, sugar, and salt to the bowl of a mini food processor and whirl around a few times using the pulse function.
    • Add the oats, pumpkin seeds, and butter. Pulse until you have coarse crumbs about one-half the size of peas. Set aside.

    Muffins

    • Preheat the oven to 375˚F and fill the cavities of two regular sized muffin tins with cupcake liners.
    • Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
    • Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter and sugar until creamy, about 3 - 4 minutes.
    • Add the eggs, one at a time, allowing each egg to be completely absorbed before adding the next. Add the applesauce, pumpkin, and vanilla, and beat until blended.
    • Remove the bowl from the mixer, and fold in one-half of the dry ingredients using a spatula. Add the juice and mix. Add the second half of the dry ingredients and fold in until smooth. Be careful not to over mix - there might be some lumps, but try to minimize.
    • Fold in the raisins.
    • Fill each muffin cup about ⅔ full, and divide the streusel between the muffins. Bake on the center rack for 25 - 30 minutes, depending on the size of the cupcakes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
    • Serve warm or at room temperature.
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Karen

      October 02, 2016 at 10:22 pm

      Oh man! I was an orphan? Lol! I couldn't have chosen a better rescuer than you. Thanks so much for the kind words and I loved how you combined two muffin recipes into one. Thank you dear hostess.

      Reply
      • The Wimpy Vegetarian

        October 02, 2016 at 10:54 pm

        Yes, you were. Erin at Crazy Bulldogs had been assigned to your blog and had a medical emergency yesterday afternoon. But I love your blog so much, I decided to do the rescue myself 🙂

        Reply
        • Karen

          October 03, 2016 at 12:24 pm

          5 stars
          You are heroic AND sweet!

          Reply
      • The Wimpy Vegetarian

        October 02, 2016 at 10:55 pm

        Oh, and I just had ANOTHER muffin. They really are wonderful!!

        Reply
    2. Karen

      October 03, 2016 at 1:42 am

      PERFECT for Autumn and pumpkin season, and as a lover of all things fruity, as well as pumpkin, this is a recipe made in heaven for me! Great SRC pick, Karen

      Reply
    3. Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie

      October 03, 2016 at 5:10 am

      I must have these muffins! Loving that pumpkin seed topping

      Reply
    4. Bakingfanatic

      October 03, 2016 at 7:01 am

      Lovely muffins. I cannot wait to make these

      Reply
    5. SallyBR

      October 03, 2016 at 7:13 am

      you were a muffin virgin!!!!! Five years of blogging muffin-free? How is that even possible? 😉

      well, you fixed that boo boo with a perfect recipe, nothing could be more perfect for the season!

      Reply
    6. Emily @ Life on Food

      October 03, 2016 at 8:48 am

      I am all about getting my pumpkin fix right now. These look amazing. Welcome to the muffin world. Happy Reveal Day!

      Reply
    7. Marla

      October 03, 2016 at 5:33 pm

      I see why you kept eating them, they look amazing! Your photos make me want to stop immediately and make a batch or 6 for myself. Helloooo elastic waisted pants! ?

      Reply
    8. Anna

      October 03, 2016 at 7:20 pm

      5 stars
      What? No muffins on the blog until now? These look like a great choice to break that drought!

      I love the addition of the pumpkin seeds. And the applesauce. And the raisins. These sound like the perfect pumpkin muffins, and I will probably have to make some of them soon.

      Reply
    9. Stephanie

      October 03, 2016 at 11:49 pm

      This looks like the perfect fall recipe and it was so nice for you to do some rescuing. Wonderful SRC post!

      Reply
    10. Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious

      October 09, 2016 at 2:59 pm

      Pepita streusel? I feel a muffin emergency coming on. Great SRC recipe!

      Reply
    11. Sid

      October 10, 2016 at 8:58 am

      Those look great, love the combo of flavours.

      Reply
    12. MeCooks

      October 23, 2016 at 12:06 am

      That looks absolutely amazing!
      Visit me 🙂 http://www.mecooks.com

      Reply
    13. Andrew Hopkins

      November 17, 2016 at 7:14 pm

      5 stars
      My family loved the recipe.. We will try a different one next time.

      Reply
      • The Wimpy Vegetarian

        November 17, 2016 at 10:00 pm

        I'm so glad!! Thanks for letting me know, Andrew!

        Reply

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