Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Pecan Brown Sugar Streusel Topping {Recipe}

 Yesterday I was bored and it was a rainy chilly autumn day here in Germany. I was grocery shopping and craving something pumpkin and sweet. I grabbed a few items and went home to whip up this delicious pumpkin spice muffin recipe. I added a streusel topping to make it a little bit fancier and more like something you would find in a coffee shop or serve at a brunch. 

I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins 

with Pecan Brown Sugar Streusel Topping

Pumpkin Spice Muffins:

1 box spice cake mix

1 can pumpkin

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

Pecan Brown Sugar Struesel:

1/2 cup chopped pecan pieces

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

4 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix together ingredients for streusel topping in a small bowl, set aside.

Mix together cake mix, pumpkin, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl. Don't worry, your batter will be really thick. Pour into lined muffin tins. Top with struesel topping, slightly pressing into muffin mixture.

Bake 20-25 mins or until toothpick comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins.

My daughter and I enjoyed having them this morning with mugs of hot cocoa!

Baking with Mirabelle Plums.

Last night I baked a Mirabelle Plum and Cognac Clafoutis with the plums Ariana and Daddy picked from the tree in our backyard! It turned out delicious! We served it slightly warm, dusted with powdered sugar and with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. It was kind of like a cobbler.

These sweet little plums come from the Lorraine region of France (which isn't far from us) here in Germany. They are good to eat by themselves (my husband really likes them) but they are also good to bake with.

Mirabelle Plum and Cognac Clafoutis Recipe

3 large eggs

1/2 cup heavy cream

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup all purpose flour

2 tablespons softened butter

about 1.5 cups of stoned mirabelle plums, cut in half

1/4 cup cognac or brandy

30g (1 oz) flaked almonds

powdered sugar and vanilla ice cream to serve.

1. Beat the eggs, cream, sugar and vanilla together in a bowl.  

2. Add flour, mix well and then beat briskly with a wooden spoon for about 1 minute.  

3. If time allows, set aside to rest for 1 hour at room temperature. In the meantime, macerate the mirabelle halves in the brandy.

4. Preheat oven to 425F (220C) and melt butter in a pie dish.  Spread the mirabelle halves evenly over the base of the buttered dish and carefully pour the batter over the fruit.  Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 10 minutes. 

5. Sprinkle with almonds and move your rack down 1 notch and reduce the oven temperature to 350F (175C) and bake for a further 10-15 minutes or until golden brown and puffy. 

Serve slightly warm with powdered sugar. Scoop of ice cream is optional but very yummy!

Orignal recipe found here.

Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto

The perfect risotto for a cool fall night! Love the garam marsala flavor that this dish has, it pairs well with the butternut squash and parmesan!

Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto

1 cup arborio rice (uncooked)

4 cups chicken broth

1 med size butternut squash, peeled, deseeded, diced in 1/2 in cubes

1 small onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1. 5 cup shredded parmesan

1/2 cup white wine

2 tbsp butter

olive oil (2tbsp + extra for coating squash)

garam masala (1 tbsp, more if desired)

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

2. Peel, deseed and chop the butternut squash into 1/2 inch cubes.

3. In a large bowl toss squash with olive oil and garam marsala.

4. Line a baking pan with aluminum foil and roast the butternut squash for 30-40 minutes until tender.

5. Heat chicken broth in a pot over medium heat. Let it gently simmer, DO NOT BOIL!

6. In a large sauté pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp butter on medium heat and let melt. Cook the onion and garlic a few minutes until softened. **(Add in and slightly mash half of your roasted squash)

7. Add the arborio rice and toast for 3-5 minutes.

8. Add the wine to the rice and stir until wine is absorbed. 

9. Ladle in warm chicken broth while stirring rice. STIR CONSTANTLY! Let it cook and absorb into the rice before adding more chicken broth. Repeat this until rice is cooked. This usually takes about 30 minutes for the brand of rice we use. Remember to constantly stir so that your risotto will cook properly.

10. Fold in the roasted butternut squash and then stir in the parmesan.

11. Serve immediately. Garnish with butternut squash and a few sprinkles of cheese if desired.

**Since first creating this recipe, we've changed it a little. Before we start cooking the rice, we cook about half of the squash in the pan with the onions, slightly mashing them as we stir. Then we fold in the other half of the squash into the dish after the rice has cooked. It seems to give the rice more butternut squash flavor!

It's pretty amazing and so is my husband for creating this for me! Let me know if you love it as much as we do! Enjoy!!