I think I finally checked off one of my bucket list recipes. Also, before you freak out, know that no Harry Potter books were harmed in the process of this photo shoot (LOL). These Pumpkin Crumb Cake Muffins are TO. DIE. FOR. And perfect for Halloween, or any fall celebration!! 

Here’s the deal. When I found out I had celiac and had to be gluten-free, I was convinced I’d never be able to eat real crumb cake again. Growing up with a family from New Jersey, and having eating crumb buns my whole life in abundance, that wasn’t something I was too happy about. I’ve tried and hardcore failed multiple times to make my family’s recipe gluten-free. Ugh, the STRUGGLE.

Because if you’ve never had TRUE New Jersey crumb buns, you have no idea what you’re missing. None of this “crumb cake” where you’ve got 3 inches of cake to ½ inch of little crumbs. Get that ish outta here. We’re talking the crumbs are ¾ of the piece, and the actual cake is about a quarter. Not kidding at all. The crumbs are the star of the show, that’s why it’s called CRUMB cake. Not cake with some crumbs.

Can we also just talk about these AMAZING cupcake/muffin wrappers? I ordered them off Etsy and they are the CUTEST. Yes, those are actual book pages made into cupcake liners. Dead.

I’m SO happy about this recipe. I finally found a baking mix that works so well for 1-to-1 conversions that I’m going to be trying out all my pre-gluten-free days of baking recipes with it (and hopefully posting about them soon)! These crumbs are, as Dumbledore would say, “no health drink”. But they’re delicious, and a celebratory treat that we used to make for every birthday in our house, and amazing. And to make it more holiday-themed, I used some pumpkin muffins as the base, instead of the traditional crumb cake base. You could also make this into a pumpkin crumb cake – check the directions for how to do that!

I know you’re probably wondering about the decorations here. This recipe has *almost* nothing to do with Harry Potter. Except for the fact that growing up, my friend Daniela and I would always bake and watch the HP movies at the same time. It became a tradition that we attempted to continue even with my gluten-free imposition, but mostly we switched to cooking instead of baking. But now, I’m bringing baking BACK.

One important thing I’ve gathered about baking: when possible, weigh your ingredients out with a kitchen scale. So I’ve done my best to include both cup amounts and weight measurements in this recipe, and will do my best to do the same going forward!

Plus, I’m just obsessed with Harry Potter and wanted to do a fun, Halloween-themed photo shoot. Duh.

Pumpkin Crumb Cake Muffins

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

45 mins

 

Dana: Real Food with Dana

Serves: 16 muffins

Ingredients

For the muffins:

• ¾ cup + 1 Tbsp (100g) cassava flour
• 3 Tbsp (18g) coconut flour
• 1 Tbsp (5g) pumpkin pie spice
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• ¾ cup (120g) loosely packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• ¾ cup (185g) pumpkin purée
• ¼ cup (65g) cashew butter
• 2 Tbsp full-fat coconut milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• *a little ghee or butter, for greasing the baking dish

For the crumbs:

• 8 Tbsp butter
• ½ cup (80g) brown sugar
• ½ cup (100g) organic cane sugar
• 1 cup (130g) gluten-free baking flour blend
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Organic powdered sugar, for dusting

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a muffin tin with paper or silicone muffin liners.
2. First, make the muffins. Combine the dry ingredients (flours, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt) in a small bowl, and the wet ingredients (sugar, pumpkin, cashew butter, eggs, vanilla, and almond milk) in a medium sized bowl. Mix well so all the ingredients are in corporated in the separate bowls, then gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet in batches, until everything is combined.
3. Use a spoon to transfer the batter into the individual muffin liners. Fill them only about halfway - you’ll get about 16-18 muffins out of this! Pop them in the oven and set a timer for 15 minutes.
4. While the muffins are baking, make the crumbs. Combine the softened butter, cane and brown sugar, then add in the flour and baking powder. Try not to overmix with your hands, or the batter will become too warm and the crumbs will sink into the cake.
5. When the oven timer goes off, crumble and mix the crumb batter into a mixture of small and large pieces over the muffins. Raise the oven temperature to 375 and bake for 15 minutes more, or until a knife inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean and until the crumbs start to brown on top.
6. Once cool enough to handle, carefully transfer the muffins to a rack to cool completely.
7. When the muffins are cool, cover with sifted powdered sugar. DEVOUR.

Notes

**You could also make this into a pumpkin crumb cake! Ditch the muffin tin and spread the batter in a prepared 13x9 baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes, then raise the temperature to 375 F, add the crumbs, and bake an additional 15 minutes.

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You’ll love these fall baking recipes too!

Paleo Congo Bars (Chocolate Chip Blondies)
Rustic Maple Apple Crisp
Dark Chocolate Sweet Potato Brownies
Gluten-Free at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Orlando