Easy Brown Butter Pumpkin Muffins (with maple cinnamon glaze)

Ok, so I’m not joking when I tell you I think these are literally the BEST pumpkins muffins I have ever made. These brown butter pumpkin streusel muffins are incredibly light and moist and have all the delicious flavors of fall, especially when you top them with maple cinnamon glaze. The best part: it’s the first recipe I’ve ever written! I’m calling it a win.

I’ve only been blogging for about a month, and I’ve learned more than I ever thought was possible. I’m balancing between lifestyle and food posts, but I realized I needed to start creating my own recipes. I felt overwhelmed at first and had no idea where to start. But they don’t call me Resource Queen for nothing! I set my sights on learning all I could within the time I have available. I spent hours searching through Pinterest and the Internet, just learning how other people do it. Then, I came across Food Blogger Pro. If you’re interested in starting a food blog, I highly recommend it. It’s not just a course; there is a whole community and support system as well. There are plenty of great courses though, and an entire one on how to write recipes! Right up my alley.

I almost immediately got hit with the recipe bug and began doing more research. I bought The Flavor Bible and started learning how bakers created recipes for their desserts and pastries. Guys, it’s all in the ratios! (If you’ve ever watched baking shows like Cupcake Wars, I’m pretty sure this is how they do it. That, and start with a basic recipe and build out from there.) With that in mind, I felt like creating a muffin recipe was the easiest place to start, and what better recipe to start with than pumpkin since it’s almost fall, y’all! In fact, it’s part of one of the many reasons why I love fall so much.

Pumpkin muffins have been done time and time again, and I wanted something a little different. Enter: Brown butter pumpkin muffins with brown butter streusel and maple cinnamon glaze. Yeah, it’s a mouthful. That was a double entendre if you couldn’t tell. Holy flavors!! There is such depth and complexity to this recipe but it’s so simple to make. I kid you not. It took me less than 20 minutes to prep all the ingredients and create the batters. And honestly, brown butter literally makes every recipe better. If I get a chance, I always opt for brown butter instead of regular because it’s just sooooo good. I’ve gotten to the point where I have to reign myself in because I worry I use it too much.

Flavor Profile and why you’ll love this recipe

These brown butter pumpkin muffins are warm, soft, and moist with a deliciously caramelized flavor from the browned butter and brown sugar. You will love this recipe because

• it’s so darn easy
• the flavors are simple yet absolutely delicious
• of the variety of components which all come together beautifully
• it’s everything that embodies fall
• it is light and so fluffy, yet indulgent

Important Ingredients

Sure, you can make pumpkin muffins in a variety of ways, but the ingredients I chose serve a very specific purpose.

• All-purpose flour. While you can sub out regular all-purpose flour for whole wheat, just keep in mind you’ll get a denser muffin.
• Baking powder. This is the only leavening agent used in this recipe. For more on the differences between baking powder and baking soda, read this article.
• Pumpkin pie spice. This is what truly brings all the flavors of this recipe together. Since we’re adding pumpkin to the recipe, I don’t use as much as I put in my pumpkin spice cupcakes.
• Salt. Salt helps to tone down the sweetness of the recipe.
• Browned butter. You can probably use room temperature or even non-browned, melted butter, but it’s not going to yield the incredibly tasty results that this specific recipe does. Adding browned butter gives a warmth and nuttiness to this recipe that regular butter does not.
• Brown sugar. That’s right, we’re using all brown sugar in this recipe. When added to the browned butter, it creates almost a caramel flavor and is to die for!
• Eggs. They give us the lightness and fluffiness we need!
• Milk. Be sure to use whole milk. Half and half also works well in this recipe.
• Canned pumpkin. This recipe calls for a whole can of pumpkin, which equals about 1 ½ cups.
• Vanilla. A wonderful flavor enhancer.
• Nuts. Pecans are the best for this recipe, but walnuts will also work well. However, they are entirely optional, so if you’re allergic  or don’t like them, you can leave them out.
• Brown butter streusel. Oh yes, more brown butter. This streusel takes these muffins to yet another level and it’s so freaking delicious.

How to make brown butter

Brown butter is a key ingredient in this muffin recipe and adds a depth of flavor that oil or even regular butter don’t. It’s rich, nutty, and adds warmth. It is absolutely a perfect ingredient to use in fall recipes.

Browning butter is ridiculously easy and is so worth it. In baking, you almost always use unsalted butter so you can have control over the salt content in your recipe. If you use salted butter, you run the risky of your recipe turning out too salty, and nobody wants that! Here’s how to make browned butter.

1. Heat a small saucepan over medium heat and add 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of butter. Things go a little faster if you cut up your stick of butter but you don’t have to if you don’t want to!

2. Keep an eye on your butter and swirl the saucepan every so often.

3. You’ll notice that, after a few minutes, the fat will separate away from the clarified butter and will start to foam as well. You can go away and whisk and scrape down the sides to incorporate everything.

4. Continue watching and look for the butter to…well…brown! It should turn a golden amber color. Once it does, you will have browned butter.

See?! Soooo simple! I know you’ll want to use it in everything.

Making the muffins

Now, onto the reason why we all came: Brown butter pumpkin streusel muffins. Oh my yum! You will want to make these all the time in the fall. I say that with true sincerity. Ok, ok, I’ll stop blabbing on about them and show you how to make them!

1. Brown your butter. See above for instructions on how to brown the butter.

2. Whisk together your dry ingredients. You can do this in a small or medium bowl and set aside for when you mix them into your wet ingredients.

3. Whisk the butter and sugar. I love that no mixer is required for this recipe! Simply whisk by hand for a minute or two. This sort of helps to “cream” the butter and sugar together. Next, add in your egg and continue whisking by hand for another minute.

4. Add the pumpkin and milk. You’ll whisk these in as well. You can add them all at once, but it might be easier to add half of each, whisk to incorporate, and then repeat, so as not to overload your mixture.

5. Add and incorporate the dry ingredients. At this point, you may want to switch out your whisk for a spoon, as the better will get thicker. DO NOT overmix or you could end up with tough muffins. You want these light and fluffy!

6. Optional: Add in 1 cup of chopped nuts. My favorite are pecans because they pair extremely well with pumpkin and the caramel flavors that the brown sugar and butter provide. Walnuts are a close second, though!

7. Add the streusel crumbles. Don’t skip this step. Seriously. See my recipe for the brown butter streusel crumbles below to fully see how to make them.

8. Bake those muffins. You’ll bake these at 350 degrees F for about 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

9. Transfer to a wire rack and let them cool until closer to room temperature.

10. Drizzle on maple cinnamon glaze.

I think you need these brown butter pumpkin streusel muffins in your life. It’s really the only way to go! Try them out and let me know what you think of them. Happy baking, and happy almost fall!!