Pumpkin Praline Muffins

I made these muffins earlier this week to share with my neighbor. I made a full batch, but divided it into 36 mini muffins. I made a 1 1/2 recipe of the topping to make sure I had enough to generously top all the muffins. I only cooked the muffins about 9 minutes, but felt like they were a little overdone at that point. They were not too burned, but the bottoms were a little darker than I wanted and they got a little dry. So, watch the time carefully. The boys and I still gobbled them all up, and my neighbor said she enjoyed them.

Pumpkin Praline Muffins
Source: Family Fun

Praline Topping:
3 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup flour
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans

Muffin Batter:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1/3 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Combine all the topping ingredients in a small bowl and use your fingers to rub them into a crumbly topping. Set it aside. Heat the oven to 400 degrees and grease the bottoms only of 12 standard muffin cups.
2. Next, make the batter: In a large bowl, whisk together both flours and the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, molasses, oil, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract. Stir the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients just until the batter is blended.
3. Divide the batter among the muffin cups and sprinkle on the praline topping. Then bake the muffins for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Let the muffins cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes before removing them. Makes 1 dozen.

*I don't have pumpkin pie spice, so I used the substitution that I found in my Pillsbury Cookbook: 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg