Granola-Topped Pumpkin Maple Muffins

I have granola bits all over my kitchen, and I am not complaining one bit.

I obviously haven’t been making enough muffins. I had to invest in a muffin pan just for this recipe, because all I had was mini pans. Last weekend I became the unofficial muffin (wo)man, and whipped up 5 different batches of these Granola-Topped Pumpkin Maple Muffins until they came out just right.

All of this pumpkin and cinnamon and seasonal sweetness deserves to be full-sized. Plus full-sized muffins means more surface area for (liberally) crumbling on the sweet granola topping. The oven works its magic on those little maple-oat morsels, and 20 minutes later they have become perfect crunchy crumbles adorning the muffins’ peaks.

These granola-sprinkled muffins have perfectly mounded tops and soft pumpkin joy underneath. The granola crunchies might make a mess, but it will be a scrumptious maple mess. Just make sure not to burn your fingers plucking them from the pan in your warm-from-the-oven excitement.

Granola-Topped Pumpkin Maple Muffins

Makes 12

1 1/4 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 cup maple syrup

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups rolled oats

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2/3 cup non-dairy milk

Granola Topping

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 tbsps maple syrup

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. Combine the pumpkin, maple syrup, and sugar together in a large bowl.
3. Grind the rolled oats to a flour in a blender. Mix the oats with the spices and baking powder in a separate bowl.
4. Add the dry to the wet in two batches alternately with the almond milk. Stir everything together until it is well combined.
5. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
6. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, filling them 3/4 of the way for nice rounded tops.
7. For the granola topping, grind 1/4 cup of the oats in a blender. Mix together the oats, oat flour, maple syrup, and spices with a fork until clumpy.
8. Sprinkle the granola generously on top of the muffin batter.
9. Bake for 20 minutes.
10. Let the muffins cool. When warm, the wrappers may stick. Once cool, they will come off cleanly.