If you are like me, your pantry is full of “just in case” and “too cheap to pass” ingredients. Working full time, with three children in the family, every time I shop I ask myself, “what might I need that I won’t be able to go get after work?” Plus, there are some items that last quite a while, and they are usually on sale once the season ends. Pumpkin puree is one of them. So, in my house, you can often find a 28 oz can of pumpkin puree.

That’s why, after baking my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pecan Cake, I was left with two cups – and more, of pumpkin puree. So, last night, after a few searches for pumpkin muffins or cupcakes, I decided to bake some Pumpkin Streusel Muffins: perfect for breakfast, snack, and even dessert at the end of a meal.

Gluten-free Pumpkin Streusel Muffins – it makes 18

Canola oil                           1 cup (8 oz)
Granulated sugar              2 cups (14 oz)
Vanilla extract                   2 teaspoons
Glycerin                              2 Tablespoons
Eggs                                     3 large
Pumpkin puree                 2 1/3 cup (19 oz)
Simona’s Flour Mix          3 cups (16.5 oz)
Salt                                       1 teaspoon
Baking soda                       1 teaspoon
Baking powder                  2 teaspoons
Cinnamon                          1 Tablespoon
Ginger                                 1 teaspoon
Nutmeg                               1/2 teaspoon
All spice                               1/2 teaspoon

Streusel Topping

Granulated sugar              1/2 cup (3.5 oz)
Simona’s Flour Mix          1/2 cup (2.7 oz)
Unsalted butter, cold       3 Tablespoons
Pecans, chopped (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two muffin pans with 18 baking cups.

Mix together the oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, glycerin, and pumpkin in a large bowl. Add the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and all spice. Mix until combined, making sure that all the lumps are gone.

Truth be told, while I was making these muffins, I mixed up what I though were all the ingredients, and the batter looked pale and quite stiff. Not convinced, I started to scoop it in the muffin pans, when I realized: I had forgotten the sugar! I quickly dropped the already portioned batter in the large bowl, added the sugar, and, phew, I felt that I had avoided a major disaster: think about 18 muffins perfectly INEDIBLE! 

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pans. In a small bowl, cut the butter into the flour and sugar – and pecans if you’d like. Mix until it resembles crumbs. Divide the streusel between the 18 muffins, sprinkling it over the unbaked dough.

Bake the muffins for 25-30 minutes, until the cupcakes have risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for a few minutes, then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!