PUMPKIN CREAM CHEESE MUFFINS

Pumpkin and cream cheese were meant to be together…and these amazingly delicious pumpkin cream cheese muffins prove it! Light and fluffy, the pumpkin muffin is perfection, and that delightful cream cheese center is like the icing on the cake.

INGREDIENTS:

• MUFFINS:
• 3 cups (15 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (see note)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil (I often sub half applesauce/half oil)
• 2 cups (15 ounces) granulated sugar
• 2 cups canned pumpkin puree (15-ounce can)
• FILLING:
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup (4 ounces) powdered sugar
• STREUSEL TOPPING:
• 1/2 cup (3.75 ounces) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (1.25 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons cold butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

iklan tengah

DIRECTIONS:

1. FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FILLING, combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar and mix with a handheld electric mixer (or in the bowl of a stand mixer) until smooth. On a piece of parchment paper or greased foil, form the soft mixture into a log making sure that the diameter is small enough to fit into the well of a muffin pan once cut into pieces. Wrap the log up tightly and freeze until slightly hardened, 1-2 hours. ALTERNATE METHOD: sometimes I use my small cookie scoop (about a tablespoon in size) and portion out 24 cream cheese dollops on a parchment-lined plate or tray and freeze that way.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two standard 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners (can bake in batches if you only have one pan) – see the note below for tips on muffin tins and how many to use.
3. FOR THE MUFFINS, in a medium bowl, combine the flour, spices, salt and baking soda. Whisk to combine; set aside. In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, vegetable oil (and applesauce if using), sugar and pumpkin puree until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined (don’t overmix; a few lumps are ok!).
4. FOR THE STREUSEL TOPPING, in a small bowl, combine all the ingredients. Mix together with a handheld electric mixer, pastry blender or two forks until crumbly.
5. Fill each muffin cup 1/3 of the way with batter. Remove the cream cheese log from the freezer and slice into 24 equal slices (no need to slice if you portioned the cream cheese mixture into individual dollops and froze). Place a slice or dollop of cream cheese on top of the batter in each muffin well and press lightly into the batter (no need to aggressively shove to the bottom, just a light press).
6. Divide the remaining muffin batter evenly among the muffin cups on top of the cream cheese (filling the muffin tins about 2/3 to 3/4 full, depending on how deep the muffin cups are). Sprinkle the streusel topping over the top of each muffin. Bake the muffins for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the top of the muffin (about 1/3 of the way down) comes out with moist crumbs. Let cool completely on a wire rack before serving.

Recipe Adapted From melskitchencafe.com

NOTES:

If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, use the following combination: 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ginger and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon cloves. Mix together and you have the equivalent of 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (so triple it for the amount needed for this recipe).

This recipe can easily be halved.

UPDATE 9/27: Over the years of making this recipe, I’ve cut down the nutmeg and cloves in the muffin batter to 1/2 teaspoon each. If you are looking for the original amount, it is 1 teaspoon of nutmeg and 1 teaspoon of cloves. Also, I tend to overfill my muffin tin because I have a USA muffin tin that minimizes any muffin spill over with deep cups (it’s awesome); if you have a muffin tin with more shallow cups, you’ll probably want to make 32 (or so) muffins instead of 24. FINALLY, I often cut the sugar down to 1 1/2 cups. Still very tasty.