Pumpkin Muffins with Toffee and Pecans

I’m a big fan of pumpkin pie, but I’ll take pumpkin in just about any way that you can think of to package it. Whether you’re talking about pumpkin brownies or chocolate pumpkin pie bars, I’m sure that I’ll like it. One of my favorite things to do with pumpkin is to bake a batch of muffins. They’re easy to mix up and adding pumpkin to muffin batter always makes the muffins moist and satisfying.

These Pumpkin Muffins with Toffee and Pecans don’t disappoint. They are moist, tender and have a great soft crumb to them. You can still taste the pumpkin in the end even with all the spices, toffee and pecans mixed into the batter, which is great when you’re a pumpkin fan and actually want to taste that warm, fall flavor in the finished product! I used canned pumpkin for these muffins, but you can make your own pumpkin puree with fresh pumpkin, too.

The combination of toffee and pecans in these muffins works very well. Think of it as being candied pecans, but with the candy and the nuts separated! I actually used chopped up Heath Bars, complete with milk chocolate coating. Not much of the chocolate made it into the muffins compared to the amount of chopped toffee, but that too was a nice addition. As usual, I recommend using toasted and lightly salted pecans for the best flavor in your finished muffin. These muffins keep well for a couple of days in an airtight container, but I doubt that they’ll last that long. There is something addictive about these, and the fact that you can eat them with breakfast, as a snack or even for dessert leaves you with plenty of reasons to pick up another.

Pumpkin Muffins with Toffee and Pecans
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup chopped chocolate-covered toffee bars (such as Heath)
1 cup toasted, salted pecans, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or lightly grease and flour.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and spices.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by pumpkin puree and vanilla extract. With the mixer on low or working by hand, gradually add in the flour mixture, stirring just until everything is combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Fold in toffee bits and chopped pecans.
Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin cups, filling each about to the top.
Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.
Turn muffins out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 1 dozen.