This copycat Tim Hortons pumpkin spice muffin tastes just like the real deal. Perfectly moist and packed full of spices. Never go through the drive thru again.
Hello Nutmeg Nanny readers, it’s Faith from Thought 4 Food! I’m excited to be back guest-posting for Brandy! 🙂
As a food blogger, I’m always looking for inspiration for new recipes. One of my main sources for inspiration is other food bloggers, but I also get tons of ideas from eating out, whether it’s at a restaurant or at someone else’s house.
This particular muffin recipe was inspired by my favorite seasonal muffin at Tim Horton’s. If you’re not familiar with Tim Horton’s, it’s a coffee chain in parts of Canada and the northeastern U.S. Their coffee is the BEST I’ve ever had, hands down…so good in fact that it was widely rumored that they put nicotine in the coffee to make people addicted…Tim Horton’s actually addressed this rumor and put it to rest.
Anyway, the Tim Horton’s pumpkin spice muffins are incredible…moist pumpkin (almost cake-like) muffins with warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, with a dollop of sweet cream cheese in the middle and candied pumpkin seeds on top. To make these into more of a breakfast muffin (as opposed to a sweet treat, cake-like muffin) I eliminated the cream cheese frosting center, and used toasted sunflower seeds instead of candied pumpkin seeds. But of course, feel free to add the frosting and use candied pumpkin or sunflower seeds! 😉
Pumpkin Spice Muffins
This copycat Tim Hortons pumpkin spice muffin tastes just like the real deal. Perfectly moist and packed full of spices. Never go through the drive thru again.
Yield: 12 muffins
Ingredients:
- 6 tablespoons butter - room temperature
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3/4 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 2 tablespoon apple butter
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice mix (my mix has cinnamon, cloves, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg)
- 6 teaspoon sunflower or pumpkin seeds, toasted
- Cooking spray
- 12 muffin liners
- Muffin tray
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400F. Cream together the butter, white and brown sugars, and molasses; then cream in the eggs and vanilla; then stir in the pumpkin, buttermilk, and apple butter. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spice. Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the wet. (The batter will be pretty thick.)
Line a muffin try with liners, then lightly spray each with cooking spray. Fill each muffin cup, then top each with ½ tsp of seeds. Bake for about 16-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
heather
Sunday 21st of October 2012
I think the butter has been left out of from the recipe. cream butter and sugars (i thought it was the apple butter but you add it later)
Brandy
Sunday 21st of October 2012
I'm so sorry about this! When I switched over designs I think something must have gotten cut out. The recipe has been updated :) I hope you enjoy the muffins and thank you for letting me know!
Denise Bondy
Wednesday 2nd of November 2011
I made these muffins...very good! I candied some raw pumpkin seeds...looked and tasted wonderful. Nice touch with the whole wheat. My 18 year old daughter liked them. Thinking of making for a school bazaar this weekend. If I wanted to do the Tim Hortons thing all I would have to do is fill the centers with the cream cheese mixture.
Kaylene Wilson
Sunday 16th of October 2011
I made these muffins twice yesterday as the first batch turned out tasting like to much flour and not mixed well. Pitched that batch and started again with two new bags of flour figuring mine had gone bad. No luck that time either. I made one muffin out of the batch and it was just like the first so I started adding more pumpkin, more pie spice, applesauce and making one muffin at a time to see what would make them better. I just could not get the flour taste out of them. I kept trying as I am addicted to Tim Horton's Pumpkin Spice Muffins and need to find a way to curb my spending $4 a day on this habit. If you have any suggestions I am willing to try again.
Trish Acres
Wednesday 12th of October 2011
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing, now - off to the kitchen to bake me some mmmmuffins! :)
Nanadlr
Monday 1st of November 2010
I had one of these muffins the other day and have been purposefully driving a little more quickly past Tim Horton's. If I went in every time I went by (I go by 4 every day to and from work) I would be in such trouble with my diet.These muffins are the best, bar none, of any food Timmys makes. These little pieces of gastronomic delights are so delicious I can't believe I have not had one before. Now the recipe is here! OH DIET be d----ed!! Off to chop up the halloween pumpkins and make a batch (maybe two or three or four or .....)LOL. Thank you so much for the recipe.