Flavor Craze
I’m pretty sure fall is no longer the name of a season in the United States. We appear to move from summer to “pumpkin spice” to winter. Personally, I am a pumpkin nut and yet I still marvel at the number of items they have managed to put pumpkin spice into… Things that I never would have imagined it possible to “pumpkin” or to “spice.” You can now buy pumpkin spice latte deodorant, pumpkin spice toilet paper, pumpkin spray cleaner for your home and for $45 someone bought a rare can of limited-edition pumpkin spice SPAM on eBay. Yep, you read that right. I didn’t think it would sell… I was wrong. But in the land of foods where pumpkin and spice actually belong, I think coffee cake is definitely on the list.
Highest Praise from my Official Taste-Tester
Normally I’m not really tempted by coffee cakes – I think because they often contain nuts, and I’m just not a big nuts-in-baked-goods person. But my official taste tester happens to loooove coffee cake – in fact, when I’ve offered to make him a special occasion baked good over the years, the items most requested are: coffee cakes, pecan pie (recipe coming soon for Thanksgiving), coconut cake (also on the add-to-blog list) and the “birthday cookies” I posted a few weeks ago. Seeing as how we’re in full “pumpkin spice” season, I wanted to take his favorite breakfast splurge item and give it an autumn twist. To my great surprise, he actually announced that he likes these MORE than the classic (non-vegan) coffee cakes that have been his favorite for years! He actually didn’t even believe me at first that these were vegan. I can’t tell you how happy that made me – a higher compliment there is not!
The Reason for the Muffin Tin
A quick note about anyone thinking “maybe I’ll try this in a square pan…” I did that and it didn’t work for me at all. The 8 pieces around the side came out okay (a little dry) but the large center square was still totally raw – so raw that I had to throw it away. Therefore, I do recommend sticking with a muffin tin for this recipe (this is the one I use from Williams Sonoma, although mine is a few years old – I see they have added more of an edge on the newer model). When scooping the batter into the muffin cups, I LOVE employing a 1.5-tablespoon scoop and a 3-tablespoon scoop like the ones in this set – they keep everything even and make the process so much faster, easier and cleaner. I use these all the time for cookies and ice cream too. They are a very worthwhile kitchen investment for under $20!
Moistness is Everything
As for longevity, the moisture in these help up nicely until day three. I would have tested on day four but we had eaten them all by then! Normally when there are sweets in the house I have pretty good self-control, I am not really tempted by containers of cookies or cake (chips and pretzels are a different story). But I lost ALL self-control with these babies… I think the fact that they’re vegan made them seem juuuust healthy enough that I could justify one for breakfast, a half for a midday snack and another for dessert. And now you know why they didn’t last past day three. But there’s arguably nothing worse than dry cake or coffee cake. If kept in airtight containers (like this set, which is awesome) yours should stay nice and moist as well.
The Toothpick Test
Please make sure you use a toothpick to test from the top center of your largest muffin to ensure they are cooked through. There are a lot of baked goods that I don’t mind under-baking a little (cookies, brownies), but this is one item that doesn’t benefit from being raw. You want the toothpick to come out clean (or with little baked crumbs on it, not wet batter), and then you take them out right away when that happens (so you don’t overbake).
These are delicious plain at room temperature, warmed and split with with vegan butter or even with a schmear of vegan cream cheese!
Vegan Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cakes
Equipment
- Muffin tin
- Scoops (1.5 tablespoon and 3 tablespoon)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1-3/4 cups canned pumpkin
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp Bob's Red Mill egg replacer (plus 4 tablespoons water to mix, equivalent to two eggs)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp allspice
Filling & Topping
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 8 tbsp vegan butter, divided in half, each half melted separately
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 to 1 cup all-purpose flour Start with 3/4 cups and add more if you feel you need to in order to achieve the desired crumble. I usually use 1 full cup but flour can act differently depending on the humidity, etc. of where you live.
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- 2. Combine the granulated sugar and light brown sugar in a bowl with the pumpkin, vegetable oil, egg replacer (pre-mix with water and allow to thicken briefly, according to the directions on the bag) and vanilla. Mix well until all the oil is integrated.
- 3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice.
- 4. Pour the flour mixture into the sugar mixture and stir until just combined, taking care not to over-mix. The batter will be thick and stiff and a bit hard to stir.
- 5. In a separate bowl, combine the dark brown sugar, cinnamon and 4 tablespoons of melted vegan butter. Stir until well combined.
- 6. Grease (or spray, I recommend Pam for Baking) one nonstick muffin tin. In the bottom of each muffin cup, place one scoop (1.5 tablespoons) of pumpkin batter in each of the 12 cups.
- 7. Using clean fingertips, press the batter into the bottom of the cup so it is evenly spread to the edges.
- 8. On top of the batter, add one teaspoon of cinnamon sugar filling and similarly spread it around evenly to form the swirl layer. You do not have to go all the way to the edge - in fact, doing so may cause your cakes to be more likely to split as you pull them out of the tin.
- 9. Using the 1.5-tablespoon or 3-tablspoon scoop, divide the remaining batter among the cakes (approximately 3 tablespoons each), spreading evenly on top of the cinnamon sugar with your fingertips.
- 10. Take the remaining cinnamon sugar in your bowl and add the additional four tablespoons of melted butter and flour. Mix together and use your hands to combine, ensuring the topping is crumbly in texture.
- 11. Sprinkle crumb topping evenly across the twelve cakes, pressing it lightly into the batter beneath.
- 12. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean, with no wet batter residue.
- 13. Allow cakes to cool in the muffin pan until they are easy to handle, then lift and transfer each one to a wire cooling rack until they have cooled completely. Store in an airtight container to maintain freshness and preserve moisture.
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