Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Boys and girls: It’s Pumpkin Time.

I stumbled across these muffins a couple of years ago and have been thinking about them ever since. Seriously. I contemplated making them again last summer, and thought it would be wrong- in the stupid “don’t wear white shoes after labor day” sort of way- because who makes a pumpkin dessert in a season other than fall and winter? I need to stop following the rules so much, and start making pumpkin cream cheese muffins more often.

Here’s the lowdown:
* Fluffy pumpkin cake, rich with spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. This ain’t no muffin- it’s a cake in a muffin liner.
* Sweetened cream cheese filling. Liberally stuffed into each cake/muffin, in a way that makes you thankful…. and happy that someone invented cream cheese, and so happy that this recipe stuffs the crap out of each muffin with the creamy cheese goodness.
* Crumbly cinnamon-sugar topping, adding an extra-special texture to the otherwise smooth cake & cheese medley.

I admit that these are a touch labor intensive, and for that I’m sorry. But trust me- they are worth it, and after you taste them you’ll see why no apology is needed from me at all. Thanks, from you, will be warranted my way.

Adapted from Annie’s Eats recipe… makes 24 muffins (or 12 muffins and one killer loaf).

CREAM CHEESE FILLING:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature (1 block)
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

MUFFINS:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg (fresh, if possible)
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cloves
3/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoons allspice
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree (plain, not ready pumpkin pie filling)
1¼ cups vegetable oil

TOPPING:
½ cup sugar
5 tbsp. flour
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
1. PREPARE & CHILL CREAM CHEESE FILLING: in a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar and mix well until blended and smooth. Cover the mixture with plastic wrap and chill until firm (refrigerate for at least a couple of hours or pop into freezer).
2. PREPARE TOPPING: in the bowl of a food processor (or a small bowl) combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon to blend. Add in the butter pieces and pulse until the mixture looks crumbly (or use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the dry mixture until the size of small crumbs). Chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.
3. PREPARE MUFFINS: preheat the oven to 350˚. Line muffin pans with paper liners and spray with nonstick spray.
4. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, allspice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend.
5. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil until incorporated. Add the dry ingredients in, mixing just until combined.
6. THE OFFICIAL ASSEMBLY: fill each muffin liner with a small amount of batter to cover the bottom (1-2 tablespoons) of each cup. Scoop a generous tablespoon of chilled cream cheese filling into each muffin well. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely. Sprinkle the topping mixture over each of the muffin tops, equally distributing between the muffins.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, checking with a cake tester that should be mostly clean of crumbs. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely before indulging.
Tips:
- Loaf it! I make 12 muffins AND a loaf with this recipe (instead of 24 muffins), maybe because I only have one muffin pan, and I’m not about to go to the trouble of stuffing mini muffins with cream cheese just because I have two of those pans… so I take the muffins out of the oven after 20-25 minutes then continue baking the loaf (which should take about 50 minutes in total). To layer in the cream cheese for a loaf, just blob the filling in one log in the center of the bottom layer of muffin batter, then cover with the rest of the batter. Same deal as the muffins- sprinkle the topping over the surface of the loaf.
- Pumpkin pie spice can be used instead of the myriad of spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, allspice)… use 2 1/4 tablespoons and maybe add another 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon.
- No cream cheese? Or maybe you want this to be dairy-free? Skip it! (And skip the crumby topping if you don’t want the butter.) The recipe will be very sad without the filling & topping, but still delectable. Believe me.
- Why chill the cream cheese? If it’s warm & runny it won’t be discernible in the final product… it will sort of bake into the batter and you’ll wonder where the loveliness went. When it goes into the oven very cold, it’s less likely to melt away on you.
- Why chill the topping? The butter will be too soft and therefore angry going into the oven, and it will punish you by baking into a texture that won’t crisp up like you’re hoping for. (By the way- it’s a very subtle crisp- just a tad crackly with cinnamon sugar… not meant to be a streusel topping with serious crunch, okay?)
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October 6th, 2012 | More Sweets Please | 2 Comments | Tags: Breads & Muffins

2 Responses and Counting...

seo Aylesbury 10.06.2012

Hi there! Would you mind if I share your blog wijth my twtter group?
There’s a lot of people that I think would really enjoy your content.

Please let me know. Many thanks
More Sweets Please

Hi there! I am thrilled to have you share my blog with your followers. Be sure to tell me what recipes you like the most!