Keto Pumpkin Muffins with a Cream Cheese Filling Topped with Crunchy Candied Pecans
These pumpkin muffins are spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and clove, with a creamy cheesecake-like center, and then topped with pecans that are candied with butter, cinnamon, and monk fruit sweetener. All of your favorite Fall flavors baked into a muffin!
Ingredients
Candied Pecans
- ½ cup pecans roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp butter melted
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 2-3 tsp granulated monk fruit sweetener
Pumpkin Muffin Batter
- 1¾ cups Lupin Flour Blend (*See recipe notes)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp pumpkin spice (or more-you can measure with your heart)
- ¾ cup unsweetened pumpkin puree
- 2 whole eggs
- ¼ cup butter melted
- ¼ cup coconut oil melted
- 1 cup granulated monk fruit sweetener
- 2 tsp vanilla
Cream Cheese Filling
- 4 oz cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 whole egg
- 2-3 tbsp granulated monk fruit sweetener
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Candied Pecans
- Preheat the oven to 350°
- Roughly chop 1/2 cup of pecans.
- Melt two tablespoons of butter and toss the chopped pecans in the butter in a small mixing bowl. Add the monk fruit and cinnamon and toss again.
- Spread the coated pecans evenly on a baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes, stir, then bake for 2 or 3 more minutes. Watch them carefully so they don't burn.
- Remove them from the baking tray and reserve them for later.
Pumpkin Muffin Batter
- Preheat the oven to 375° and line a muffin tin with paper liners (plus 4 in another tin).
- Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin spice in a mixing bowl.
- Combine the butter and coconut oil and melt in the microwave.
- In a separate mixing bowl combine the pumpkin puree, oil, butter, eggs, vanilla, and monk fruit.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients until incorporated. The batter will be thick. Distribute the batter evenly into 16 muffin cups.
- spray the end of a small melon baller with pam spray, then use it to hollow out the center of each muffin.
Cream Cheese Filling
- Combine the cream cheese, 1 egg, monk fruit, and vanilla to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on high speed until smooth.
- Spoon the filling into a Ziploc or pastry bag. If you are using a Ziploc, then snip off one corner with a pair of scissors and pipe cream cheese filling into the center of each muffin.
- Place the trays in the oven and bake for 20 minutes at 375°
- Remove from the oven. Sprinkle candied pecans on top of each muffin, pressing them gently into the warm muffin tops so they adhere. Place back in the oven for two more minutes.
Notes
Nutrition Information for 1 Muffin:
Calories: 185
Fat: 16.7g
Net Carbs: 1.8g
Protein: 5g
*This recipe was developed using my lupin flour blend. It is totally worth it to check that recipe out in the above article, but if you prefer to use a more common blend of flours, then I would suggest using the following in place of the lupin blend:
1 and 1/4 cup of almond flour
1/4 cup of coconut flour
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
This will change the macros for the recipe slightly.