Brown Butter Maple Pumpkin Muffins

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
2. Melt the butter in a small light-colored saucepan over medium heat, swirling, until it foams and the bits on the bottom turn golden brown and smell nutty, 4–6 minutes. Pour it into a large bowl, scraping in the browned bits, and let it cool for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ground ginger, nutmeg and five-sixths of the cinnamon.
4. In a small bowl, stir the granulated sugar with the remaining one-sixth of the cinnamon to make the cinnamon-sugar topping; set it aside.
5. Into the cooled brown butter, whisk the brown sugar, maple syrup and pumpkin until smooth, then whisk in the eggs one at a time and the vanilla.
6. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and fold with a spatula just until no dry streaks remain; a few lumps are fine.
7. Divide the batter evenly among the 12 lined cups, filling them nearly to the top, and sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar topping evenly over each.
8. Bake for 20–23 minutes, until the tops spring back and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes, then move them to a rack to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.