Pumpkin Pecan Muffins (gluten free, paleo, soy free, vegan)
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Chestnut flour brings out a nutty flavor that enhances the pumpkin spice flavor but you can easily swap the grain free blend for gluten free, or use eggs if you choose to, and if nuts are not tolerated try one of the variations - all adaptations in the notes below and can be made a day ahead!
Jessica:
Recipe type: Breakfast, Dessert
Serves: 15 muffins
Ingredients
  • You will need cupcake liners or use smaller sized muffin liners. I used smaller muffin pans that yield 15 muffins.
  • This creates the lighter spiced pumpkin muffin. Deeper spiced muffins additions in the notes below.
  • 9 tablespoons (115 grams) palm shortening, room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 ripe banana
  • ½ cup canned coconut milk (I use Trader Joe’s organic)
  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice
  • 1 cup (115 grams) chestnut flour
  • 1 cup (125 grams) tapioca flour (starch)
  • ⅓ cup (30 grams) psyllium husk flakes
  • ½ teaspoon aluminum-free baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder (Hain’s brand is corn free)
  • 2 teaspoons ground Vietnamese cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¾ cup (170 grams) canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
  • ½ cup pecan pieces
  • You will also need:
  • sweetened coconut flakes
  • extra pecan pieces
  • turbinado (raw) sugar
Preparation
  1. Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat oven temperature to 350 degrees F (177 Celsius). Line muffin pans with liners.
  2. In a medium bowl, add chestnut flour, tapioca flour, psyllium husk, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and kosher salt to combine well. Add in other spices (notes below) if making more warmly spiced. Set aside.
  3. Combine palm shortening, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer set with a paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed for 2 minutes. Add banana, pumpkin puree and beat another 2 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low and add in flour blend and mix until just blended. Remove bowl from stand mixer and scrape flour off the sides and bottoms to ensure it’s well mixed. Add in pecan pieces and blend again.
  4. Using a large ice cream scooper, scoop a heaping amount into each muffin liner. Sprinkle some turbinado sugar, pecan pieces, and coconut flakes. Bake muffins for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let muffins cool for an hour before serving. Also delicious right out of the fridge.
  5. For loaf: Place a piece of parchment paper, crosswise, in a standard sized loaf pan to create an overhang then lightly grease and flour. Scoop out batter into loaf pan and bake 47-52 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Mine was perfect at 50 minutes. Cool in the loaf pan for at least two hours, before slicing. It will slice much easier after about an hour of refrigeration.
  6. For bundt cake: Grease and flour a bundt pan. Double the recipe. Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool for a couple of hours before slicing.
  7. Variations:
  8. Can’t do nuts or prefer without? Swap for raisins, dried currants (or cranberries), or pumpkin seeds.
  9. Notes:
  10. For deeper spice notes, as in the darker muffin pictured: add an additional ½ teaspoon Vietnamese cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground cloves, ¼ teaspoon ground ginger.
  11. Both versions have more pumpkin spice flavor the second or third day and stay moist, when sealed well and refrigerated, for up to four days.
  12. On flour measures:
  13. Weighing flours have been my go-to for consistently accurate when baking. Cooking allows more leniency and room for last minute additions, whereas baking is more of a science that needs structure. When I started baking gluten and dairy free, I noticed recipes were inconsistent: great at times, not so great other times, thus realizing my scoop and level varied day to day. Frustration had me go out and buy a cheap scale years ago at Bed Bath Beyond for $25- (even less with the 20% off store coupon) - nothing fancy or expensive just a durable scale is needed. They all have the grams and ounces weight and you want one with an option to zero the weight of your bowl to eliminate any confusion or need to use too much math. I find that baking with weighed flour measurements yields consistent results every time; we don’t have the binding glue (gluten) to be casual about our “scoop and level” measures with gluten free flours.
  14. Oven temperatures:
  15. Baking can be finicky: the oven may say it reached temperature but if not calibrated it will have you wondering what went wrong. If that’s been the case, you may be baking at a lower temperature. Rather than spend the money to calibrate, simply stick an oven thermometer in the oven and go by that. I don’t know what I would do without my oven thermometer, it has saved me countless times!
  16. Gluten Free Alternative: Sub flours for 120-gram weight of white rice flour and Thai white rice flour, and 40 grams of buckwheat flour as she states in her cookbook. You can also use an all-purpose gluten-free all purpose flour mix, however, it will be lighter in color and not have the earthy, nutty flavor from buckwheat.
  17. For freezing:
  18. I find the nuts and coconut chips on the muffins stay crunchy by wrapping each completely cooled muffin in plastic wrap then placing them all in a freezer-safe sealed container. Loaves can be stored in freezer-safe containers without plastic wrap. Stores well for up to a month.
Recipe by From Jessica's Kitchen at http://fromjessicaskitchen.com/pumpkin-pecan-muffins-gluten-free-paleo-soy-free-vegan/