Pumpkin Banana Streusel Coffee Cake Muffins

"How big are muffins going to get before we all join hands across America?  Have you seen them?  They're huge.  'Yeah, I'll take a coffee and...Oh, my gosh!  Yeah, I'll have the beanbag chair with raisins.'"

- Kevin James

These muffins are big, just not quite to the degree of those thousand-calorie-each raisin-studded beanbag-chair muffins you get at the bakery.  I was driving my daughter home from dance class yesterday when it dawned on me that I had half a can of pumpkin puree sitting in my parents' refrigerator, and it was four days into its short out-of-can lifespan.  On Wednesdays we typically have breakfast for dinner because it is quick, easy, and everyone loves biscuits or pancakes as a midweek treat.  My daughter had told me earlier in the day she wanted waffles, so I was trying to figure out some way to sneak the pumpkin puree into the waffles and still guarantee the kids would eat it.  Then I segued to pancakes, until I remembered that I had tried making pumpkin pancakes, with disastrous results, when my son was a baby.  So, my next stop on the thought-train was muffins.  Muffins are so incredibly versatile, and kids love them because they are like cupcakes...only marginally more nutritious.  I can sneak pumpkin into a muffin.  Thinking of the cookbooks on my mom's shelf, I decided to modify the Banana Nut Muffin recipe she uses.  It wasn't a far stretch to think pumpkin/banana together, especially since a couple of years ago I made Tyler Florence's Whipped Sweet Potatoes and Bananas with Honey.  Sweet potatoes and pumpkin are kind of similar, and since pecans and sweet potatoes are delish together, and I had used candied pecans on my Caramel Pecan Pumpkin Cake I had solved the dilemma of which nut to use (I prefer pecans anyway as walnuts irritate my mouth).  I tinkered a bit, added in the spices, accidentally doubled the sugar (eek!) which turned out just fine, and forgot to put butter in the streusel...but it's all good.  My kids love them!  My daughter ate two for breakfast this morning - declaring them to be spice cake muffins - and it is always a struggle to get her to eat before school.  My son who is so picky he would eat PBJ three times a day loves them, too (incidentally, he also loves the Pumpkin Cake).  Get your bake on and dig into these fall-infused goodies!

Pumpkin Banana Streusel Coffee Cake Muffins

Muffins:

3 1/2 cups self-rising flour (we ONLY use White Lily)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp cloves

1 cup 100% pumpkin puree (Libby's is preferred - NOT pumpkin pie filling)

1 cup banana, mashed (I used 1 medium, 1 smallish)

2 eggs

1 cup milk

2/3 cup oil

Streusel:

1 1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (NOT instant)

2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 cup pecans, broken or chopped

1 stick butter (optional)

*NOTE:  I Googled a streusel recipe while typing this up, and my ratio of brown sugar and oats was the same as their ratio of brown sugar and flour, however if I increased the amount of butter from their recipe at the same ratio it would be 1 1/3 cup butter!!!  EGAD!  However, I did not add ANY butter to my streusel topping...because I forgot.  So, use your own judgment until I can try this recipe again to see if the butter ratio needs to be increased.

1.  Preheat oven to 400º F.  Spray (or line with paper baking cups) 24 regular-sized muffin cups and 1 6" round cake pan, or 28 regular-sized muffin cups.  Mash banana with a fork and measure to be sure there is 1 cup each of pumpkin puree and mashed banana.

2.  Mix dry ingredients in large bowl (I used a wire whisk).

3.  In separate bowl, mix wet ingredients (wire whisk).

4.  Add wet ingredients to dry (switch to a wooden spoon).  Stir until dry ingredients are evenly moist, but do not beat the lumps out or your muffins will be peaked and cracked.

5.  Scoop 3 TB batter into each muffin cup and the remaining batter into the cake pan (if you are using 28 muffin cups, continue scooping 3 TB batter into each) - I used the large Pampered Chef scoop, an ice cream scoop would work.

6.  Mix together ingredients for streusel topping.  I did not use the butter, I simply combined the oats, brown sugar, and pecans.  This meant that some of the topping fell off, but it was OK.  If you want to use butter, you can mix it together in a number of ways:  put it in the food processor and pulse until combined (this will also chop your pecans into finer pieces), mix it with your fingers - pinch the butter into pieces, use a fork or pastry blender, or use an electric mixer with a paddle attachment.

7.  Sprinkle topping over muffins and cake.

8.  Bake 20 minutes for muffins, 30 for cake.  Test with a toothpick for doneness.  FYI the muffins in the stoneware (bottom rack) burned just a wee bit on the bottoms while the ones on the top rack in metal pans stayed blond.  You may want to rotate the muffins halfway through.

9.  Cool in pan 5 minutes.  Carefully remove to a serving tray or plate (use an icing spatula or butter knife so you can easily get under the muffin to lift it straight up out of the pan).