Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins. Pure Deliciousness!!

I love love love pumpkin.... period dot. Personally I think it should be eaten whenever, wherever & at all times of the year, not just during the fall & winter seasons. That being said I try to make something with pumpkin in it as often as possible.

This past week I started craving something with pumpkin in it, and decided to make some Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins. The original recipe says that it's a spin off of Starbucks, but since I've never had Starbucks' Pumpkin Muffins I really have no idea. I do know however that these are delicious...and worth the time that it takes to make them.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins


Makes: 24 muffins


Ingredients:


Filling
8 oz. 1/3 fat cream cheese
1 cup powdered (confectioner) sugar


Muffins
2 cups bread flour
1 cup all-purpose whole wheat flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. + 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Dash of salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 cups canned pumpkin
1 cup vegetable oil (can substitute plain yogurt for 1/2 cup)


Muffin Topping
1/2 cup sugar
5 tbsp. Flour
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
4 tbsp. cold butter, chopped small
optional (1/4 cup) chopped nuts


Directions


First things first....you must plan ahead to make this recipe!! You need to make the filling at least 2 hours in advance so that it's firm enough that you can cut it into pieces for the individual muffin fillings later.


Mix the powdered sugar with the cream cheese until smooth & then spread into a log form, about 1 foot in length, in the middle of a piece of cling wrap. Roll the cling wrap closed, wrap in aluminum foil & place into freezer for at least two hours.

Once you've got your filling into the freezer start on the muffin topping mixture. Mix the sugar, flour & cinnamon together in a small bowl. With a fork mix the chopped butter in until the mixture is crumbly. Cover with cling wrap & place in your fridge until your ready to use it.


About an hour & half into the chilling of your cream cheese start making your muffin mixture. Turn on your oven at this point & preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix the eggs, pumpkin, oil/yogurt & sugar together in a bowl. In another bowl mix your dry ingredients; bread flour, whole wheat flour, spices, dash of salt & baking soda. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet until they are fully blended. Spray your muffin tins with Pam & then fill them a quarter full with the muffin mixture. You can use muffin wrappers if you'd like but I find that they are much easier to freeze  and thaw later without the wrapper on.


Next comes the cream cheese filling. Take it out of the freezer and slice the cream cheese log into 24 slices. It's okay if it's not totally firm. I slice as I go & place each slice in the middle of one of the muffins. Place the rest of the muffin mixture on the tops of the filling for all of the muffins & then sprinkle the topping over each muffin. Bake for 20-25 min. Cool on wire rack....I think the muffins are best eaten slightly chilled but to each their own. If I'm craving one right away I'll let it cool on the wire rack, and then place it in the freezer inside of a plastic container for about 15 min. YUM!!!

Store in an air tight container in the fridge. To use as snacks throughout the next week, or month, freeze them!! They freeze fantastically. Place one or two to each ziplock sandwich bag and place in the freezer. They only take around 15 mins to thaw to a nicely chilled temperature, or you can microwave them for about 15 seconds if you're in a hurry!





Recipe Adapted from AnnieEats & BakeSpace