Pumpkin Banana Muffins with Pecans are the perfect fall treat. Flavored with pumpkin pie spice, these are a great way to use up overripe bananas and leftover pumpkin. Eat as a quick breakfast, snack, dessert or tuck some away in the freezer for a rainy day.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk dry ingredients - flour, baking soda and powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice.
Add the eggs, oil, vanilla and sugars to another medium bowl and whisk vigorously to combine.
Add in the mashed banana and pumpkin puree and whisk again to combine.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and gently combine with a spatula or wooden spoon.
Gently fold in the pecans.
Spoon batter into lined muffin tins and bake at 400°F for 5 minutes, then turn temperature down to 375°F and bake for 17 minutes more. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center and see that it comes out clean or gently (and carefully) press the center with your finger to see if it's squishy or soft but firm. Soft but firm means it's done. Because every oven is different, I would check for doneness at 15 minutes into the 375°F baking time.
Notes
You can play with the balance of pumpkin vs banana. I tested the recipe with more banana than pumpkin and vice versa. Just keep the total to 1 ¼ cups.
As mentioned above, use pumpkin pie spice or make your own using my 4 to 1 ratio. ½ teaspoon of cinnamon to ⅛ teaspoon of ginger, cloves, allspice, and ginger to make 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. Or play with the spices to match your own taste buds - just stay somewhere near the total amount specified.
Don't overmix the batter - just combine until you can't see any giant lumps of flour.
I usually have a little extra chopped pecans to throw on top or you could use some regular or turbinado sugar or even one large pecan.
Try cutting these banana pumpkin muffins in half, give them a quick toast and use a bit of butter or cream cheese on each half. YUM!