Pumpkin Spiced Muffins with Pecan Nuts, Raisins and Coconut

Jump to Recipe

Wonderful moist, soft and fluffy, crunchy topped muffins, loaded with pumpkin and Autumn spices, chopped pecan nuts, coconut and raisins. Deceptively easy to make, yet full of flavour with an amazing texture, these muffins are made from the same recipe as my Spiced Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, but with added goodies stirred through and no cream cheese frosting.

Like the cake, the pumpkin purée, yoghurt and oil guarantee a tender, moist crumb, whilst the warm spices, which include cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and all spice, ensure the muffins burst with seasonal, comforting flavours. The muffin batter is not overly sweet, which makes it perfect for breakfast or a mid-morning snack. However, the raisins add a delicious pop of sweetness, and the nuts bring a wonderful texture contrast to complement the crunchy topping. I love salted butter with my muffins, particularly when they are warm, but these are so moist and flavourful, they are equally delicious without!

• 

Use up that Halloween pumpkin

Have you been carving pumpkins for Halloween? If so, it is likely you will have plenty of leftover pumpkin. Don’t bin it! Cook and purée it and make this fabulous cake! Whilst you can use a tinned purée, home made is quick and easy to make and a great idea when trying to cut down on waste in the kitchen. (Details below.)

How to make Pumpkin Spiced Muffins with Pecan Nuts, Raisins and Coconut

Where is this recipe from?

Based on my Spicy Cake with Vegetable/Fruit and Nuts – Core Recipe, this recipe can also be used to make a round cake ( 2 x 20cm/8in round cake tins), baked into a 900g/2lb loaf or made into a slice (in a 20cm/8in square cake tin).  The changes I have made include:

• adding just chopped nuts (as opposed to ground nuts) and raisins (omit nuts, if allergic)
• increasing the flour to compensate for not adding the ground nuts
• replacing the grated carrots with pumpkin purée

Collect all your ingredients together:

Dry ingredients:

• plain/all-purpose flour
• bicarbonate of/baking soda
• baking powder
• cinnamon powder
• ginger powder
• ground nutmeg
• ground cloves
• all spice
• fine salt

Wet ingredients and sugar:

• unsweetened pumpkin puree, either home made (see below) or from a tin (not pumpkin pie mix)
• neutral flavoured oil, such as sunflower, vegetable, light olive oil
• plain/natural yoghurt
• eggs
• vanilla extract
• light muscovado sugar or light brown sugar

Additional ingredients:

• pecan nuts, omit if allergic
• raisins
• desiccated coconut
• demerara sugar

How to make these fabulous muffins:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4 (fan 160°C) and place 18 muffin cases into muffin tins.
2. Scatter the pecan nuts (excluding the 18 whole halves saved for the top of each muffin) on a baking tray and cook in the oven for 7 – 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
3. Weigh the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix well.
4. Weigh the wet ingredients and sugar directly into another mixing bowl and mix thoroughly with a balloon whisk.
5. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, then use a balloon whisk to mix thoroughly until smooth.
6. Chop the pecan nuts and fold into the cake batter with the raisins and desiccated coconut.
7. Divide between 16 – 18 muffins cases; each muffin case should be ⅔ full. Sprinkle over the demerara sugar and top each muffin with a pecan nut.
8. Bake in the centre of a preheated oven for 20 – 25 minutes, or until cooked. They are cooked when:
   • the centre feels slightly springy when lightly touched.
   • a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
9. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Pumpkin Purée:

Can I used unsweetened tinned pumpkin purée?

Although I prefer making this cake with homemade pumpkin purée, it can be easily replaced with tinned. If using tinned, it is important to make sure it is unsweetened and not pumpkin pie mix, which is far too sweet. Although readily available in the USA, pumpkin purée can be tricky to get hold of in the UK.

How much uncooked pumpkin do I need if making my own purée?

To calculate how much raw pumpkin you need to make the purée, your prepared raw pumpkin should weigh around 10-12% more than the pureed weight asked for in the recipe.

I like to buy a pumpkin, make a batch of purée and freeze it in 180g portions. This recipe is also a really good way to use up pumpkin left over after Halloween – don’t bin it! Cook and purée it and make these fabulous muffins!

Ingredients:

• pumpkin/part of a pumpkin

Instructions:

1. Peel the pumpkin, chop into quarters and remove the stem and seeds.
2. Chop the flesh into squares, roughly 2cm in size.
3. Transfer to a large saucepan and cover with boiling water. Bring to a simmer and cook until the pumpkin is very soft – around 10 minutes.
4. Use a colander or sieve to drain well. Let the pumpkin sit in the colander for 5 – 10 minutes to steam dry. Puree in a food processor, blender or use a stick blender.

• 

• 

• 

Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.