Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake Mini Muffins

Yeah, that's a mouth full. Now try saying that with one of these bad boys in your mouth- impossible. I'm not a baker (that's probably evident by now if you follow my blog), but it is the holiday season... and I did have some extra pumpkin puree sitting in the fridge begging to be used. This turned out to be a great coffee cake, not too heavy, not overly sweet. You can make it mini muffin style like I did, or bake it in a cake pan which may be a good option if you plan on serving this to guests- you know, like for thanksgiving!

Streusel
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
5 tablespoons plant-based butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped

Coffee Cake

2 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon clove

1 cup non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a bowl mix together the streusel ingredients until it becomes crumb-like, then set aside.

In a large bowl mix the milk and apple cider vinegar, allow to sit for a few minutes to curdle (it never looks curdled, but don't skip this part, it's important). Meanwhile it's doing its thing, in a seperate bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.

Add the pumpkin, sugars, and oil to the bowl with the milk in it, whisk until smooth, then whisk in the flour mixture. A fork may be easier than a whisk because this mixture gets very thick and you don't want to over mix.

Grease your mini muffin tin or a 9-inch springform/cake pan with a little bit of non stick spray. For the muffins add a little bit of your mix into the muffin holes, then add a thin layer of streusel, and then some more mix, then finish it off with some streusel crumbles over top. If you're doing this in a cake pan then pour in half your batter, sprinkle it with half the streusel, and then pour over the remaining batter, topping it off with remaining streusel before popping it into the oven. Bake the mini muffins between 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when you poke a muffin, allow to cool before serving. Bake the cake for roughly 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean after poking it in the center of the cake.

If you're looking for a little more sweetness, you can then drizzle it with a maple glaze. I don't think a glaze is necessary so I opted out, but if you're interested here is the original recipe.

Savory Holiday Tart

My friend Erica recommended this recipe to me, in fact she swore by it. I took a look at the recipe and quickly decided I'd give it a go, mainly because the ingredients were common and it looked super easy- I didn't expect it to blow me away though. I was blown away. This tart was so delicious, ridiculously flavorful, and light- almost fluffy. This is definitely going to be the GF main dish this Thanksgiving.

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup onion, diced
3/4 cup celery, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 14-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed (reserving 1/4 cup)
3/4 cup raw walnuts
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 teaspoons tamari, soy sauce, or Bragg's Liquid Aminos
1 1/4 cups frozen chopped spinach
3 1/2 tablespoons dried cranberries
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
1 9-inch prepared pie shell, thawed (I used a GF one)
1/2 tablespoon olive oil

Served with some homemade cranberry sauce and gravy (gravy not shown)

 Precook the pie crust according to package directions.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a saute pan and add the onion, celery, garlic, salt, and pepper, and cook for 9 minutes until onions soften and begin to caramelize. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a food processor add chickpeas (except reserved 1/4 cup), walnuts, lemon juice, and 2 teaspoons of the tamari/soy sauce/liquid aminos, and pulse to lightly chop. Remove half of chopped mixture from food processor and transfer to a large bowl. Transfer the sauteed onion mixture into the food processor with the remaining chickpea mixture and puree until smooth.

Transfer purée to bowl with lightly chopped chickpea and walnut mixture. Add spinach, cranberries, parsley, thyme, and 1/4 cup of reserved chickpeas. Stir to combine and transfer to prepared pie shell, spreading evenly. Mix together the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil with the remaining 1 teaspoon of tamari/soy sauce/aminos, then carefully brush the top of the tart with the mixture. Put a crust-protector, or tin foil around the crust, and bake for 45 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before you cut it. Serve with cranberry sauce and gravy.

Recipe by Dreena Burton