Kitchen Adventures: Pumpkin Corn Muffins with Pecan Streusel Topping

Yesterday I played with some pumpkin in my kitchen. I remembered an old Autumn favorite of mine years ago when I was living in Washington and not so careful about kashrus out of the house. There

was a cafe that served pumpkin spice chai lattes that were simply decadent. So I opened a can of pumpkin puree, scooped a heaping spoonful into a pot and added some chai tea concentrate, rice milk and pumpkin pie spice, heated it up and used a whisk to make it nice a frothy. Voila! It was scrumptious! Now, all I needed was an amazing gluten free muffin to go with it! And, I had this can of pumpkin sans one heaping spoonful to contend with...

...And thus came about the inspiration for my newest crazy kitchen concoction. I looked up recipes for gluten free pumpkin muffins and pumpkin breads and liked some of them but not enough to adhere to only one. Finally, I decided to try my hand at building my own recipe and the results were a tasty success even my husband enjoyed! They were great right out of the oven, and, if I do say so myself, just as delicious reheated a bit alongside a cup of coffee.

Pumpkin Corn Muffins with Pecan Streusel Topping
This recipe is gluten free and pareve. You could also substitute regular flour and butter if you want the gluten-full and/or diary version.
Ingredients:

      Muffins

• 1 medium sized ripe banana, mashed
• 1 can (15oz) pure pumpkin puree
• 2 TBSP molasses
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup oat flour
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

             Streusel Topping

• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/8 cup margarine, melted
• 1/8 cup brown rice flour
• 1/8 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup crushed pecans

Yeild: 1 dozen muffins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and prepare a muffin tin with liners or spray. I used my kitchen aid to mix ingredients for the muffins. Spoon into liners until about 3/4 of the way full. Melt your margarine and mix streusel ingredients together (I did this by hand) and crumble a bit on top of each muffin. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes, until toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Enjoy, share with a loved one and enjoy some more!