Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins

When I first went vegan in college I needed to learn how to cook for myself pretty quickly. I had never really been too interested in baking, but was a huge fan of sweets. I realized that my sweet's connections had largely been cut off and so I started baking. I started with muffins. For the first few months those were the only things that I made. That's the first time that this recipe surfaced. I brought it to several potlucks and often shared them with friends. I hadn't made them in years. But when I decided that I would be doing fall sweets for my MoFo topic, my friend Jenna asked if they would be included. So I made a batch from memory. I never wrote down all my original alteration to the recipe, but I think that this is pretty close.



Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins
veganized from here; makes 16 muffins

2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1 tbl ground flax mixed with 3 tbl water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large chopped apple
In bowl combine all dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl combine all wet ingredients. Fold the wet into the dry, then add the chopped apples. Don't over-mix the batter. Scoop into muffin pans, about 3/4 full.

For streusel
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oats
3 tbl flour
1 tsp cinnamon
3 tbl Earth Balance
Combine every except the Earth Balance. Cut the Earth Balance into the mixture using your fingers and sprinkle heavily on top of all of the muffins. You might have a small amount of extra streusel. Just save it for your next pie.
Bake the muffins at 350 for 30-40 minutes.
These muffins might not be the most beautiful thing to look at, but most muffins aren't. But once you take a bite, they will win you over. The pumpkin is much more subtle than with most pumpkin muffins. The apple helps balance the pumpkin out a lot. The sugary streusel gives the top of the muffins a really wonderful crunch too. It might just be because I live with 4 boys, but these muffins disappeared more quickly than something has in quite a long time.