Brown Butter Pumpkin Muffins

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I really wasn’t going to make any pumpkin recipes until the end of the month. Despite my adoration for fall, I was determined to stretch out the end of summer as long as possible. Tomatoes and zucchini and peppers and raspberries were going to be my main focus for the month, and I was going to transfer to the fall produce like apples and pumpkins and pears and grapes in early October. Late September if I was really craving some autumn foods.

And then I made the mistake of going grocery shopping just before dinner, with my stomach growling. I only needed a few things. I stopped and picked up a few boxes of pasta, then headed over to the baking aisle for olive oil and chocolate chips. And there, right between the two things I needed, was a can of pumpkin puree. Without really thinking about it, I added a can to my basket.

Two minutes later, I was back in the aisle, contemplating putting it back on the shelf.

“It is really too early for pumpkin,” I thought.

“But you could re-do the pumpkin spice syrup recipe. And make muffins! And pumpkin ice cream,” I told myself.

After a few more minutes of back and forth, the pumpkin stayed in my basket.

And I’m not sure how it happened, but a bag of Reese’s peanut butter pumpkins ended up in there too.

There is a reason you aren’t supposed to go grocery shopping hungry.

Brown Butter Pumpkin Muffins

I adore baking with pumpkin because the results are never, ever dry and always have at least a hint of that rich pumpkin flavor. You can simply use melted butter instead of brown butter, but I like the way the brown butter and pumpkin taste when paired together.

Yields: 18 muffins
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

For the Muffins:

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup low-fat milk

For the Streusel Topping:

6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats

For the Muffins:

Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a muffin tin.

Brown the butter. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Continue to cook, stirring often, until the butter is a dark gold/light brown. Remove from heat.

In the meantime, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar, salt and spices together in a large mixing bowl. Create a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the browned butter, pumpkin, egg, vanilla and milk. Stir until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated into the batter and there are no dry spots left.

For the Streusel Topping:

Combine the ingredients and mix until small clumps of oats form.

Fill a greased muffin tin with muffin batter, filling each cup about 3/4 of the way. Sprinkle with streusel and bake for 20-23 minutes at 350F, or until the tops of the muffins are firm. Allow to cool for five minutes in the pan, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining batter.

Tagged as: Autumn, Baking, Breads and Muffins, breakfast recipes, Pumpkin

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