Pumpkin Spiced Muffins with Pecan Nuts, Raisins and Coconut
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.
Makes 16 - 18 muffins
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 190g plain/all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of/baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons cinnamon powder
- ½ teaspoon ginger powder
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon all spice
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
Wet ingredients and sugar:
- 180g unsweetened pumpkin puree, either home made (see Recipe Notes) or from a tin (not pumpkin pie mix) For homemade, you will need 200g peeled and deseeded uncooked pumpkin flesh
- 140g neutral flavoured oil, such as sunflower, vegetable, light olive oil
- 80g plain/natural yoghurt
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 120g light muscovado sugar or light brown sugar
Additional ingredients:
- 100g pecan nuts, plus 18 whole pecans (omit if allergic)
- 120g raisins
- 50g desiccated coconut
- 30g demerara sugar
Instructions
-
Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
-
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4 (fan 160°C) and place 18 muffin cases into muffin tins.
-
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.
-
Weigh the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix well.
-
Weigh the wet ingredients and sugar directly into another mixing bowl and mix thoroughly with a balloon whisk.
-
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, then use a balloon whisk to mix thoroughly until smooth.
-
Chop the roasted pecan nuts and fold into the cake batter with the raisins and desiccated coconut.
-
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.
-
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 muffins comes out clean.
-
Leave in the tin for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Recipe Notes
Equipment:
- Kitchen scales and measuring spoons
- baking tray
- chopping board
- mixing bowls x 2
- balloon whisk
- 16 - 18 muffin cases in a muffin tin
Pumpkin Purée
Can I use 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 pumpkin purée?
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:
- 1 pumpkin/part of a pumpkin
Instructions:
- Peel the pumpkin, chop into quarters and remove the stem and seeds.
- Chop the flesh into squares, roughly 2cm in size.
- 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.
- Use a colander or sieve to drain well. Let the pumpkin sit in the colander for 5 – 10 minutes to steam dry. Purée in a food processor, blender or use a stick blender.
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 cake tins), baked into a 900g/2lb loaf or made into a slice (in a 20cm/8in square cake tin).