Pumpkin Pie Muffins

My usual breakfast is a slice of wheat toast or a wheat English muffin with peanut butter and honey. I've been eating this for about 10 years, and I'm sick of it. So I cracked open Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave and decided to try the Pumpkin Muffins. I made a few modifications; I subbed Penzey's Pumpkin Pie Spice for the long list of spices she required, and I added the pecan crumb topping she had in her Apple Pecan Muffin recipe. Below is my recipe; I tasted the results this afternoon, and I think I'll be a happy girl tomorrow morning.

Pumpkin Pie Muffins
Makes 12
Recipe adapted from Ellie Krieger

2 T. light brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons Penzey's Pumpkin Pie Spice
(or 1 t. cinnamon, 1/2 t. ground ginger, 1/4 t. ground cloves, 1/8 t. ground nutmeg)
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3 T. unsulfured molasses
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 t. vanilla extract
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place paper liners in 12 muffin cups.

Make the topping by combining the first 3 ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, salt and spices. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, molasses, oil and eggs, one at a time. Whisk in the pumpkin and vanilla. Stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients in two batches, alternating with the buttermilk, until combined. Divide the batter equally between the 12 muffin cups. Top with the pecan topping. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

Remove muffins from tin and let cool completely on a wire rack. When cool, store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.