Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Wow! I'm in pumpkin heaven! Although I just tried this recipe for the first time tonight, these are some of the best muffins I've ever made! Warm and delicate muffins, just out of the oven, with a deliciously sweet cream cheese filling. So good! Two thumbs way up for this recipe even though it takes a little more work than normal.
This recipe, which my friend Angie led me to, comes from a blog called Annie's Eats. I followed her recipe pretty much to the letter except when it came to the topping. I'm sure there is nothing wrong with Annie's topping, and I'll probably give it a try next time, but I decided to do a little experimenting. For half of the muffins, I thought that I'd go "topless" and sprinkle nothing at all on them. They are already plenty sweet and plenty rich. For the other dozen muffins, I did more of a brown sugar streusel topping. I mixed together about 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and a few tablespoons flour (no butter). I also scattered some chopped pecans across the top. Anyway, BOTH options are wonderful, but I think I have a slight preference for the brown sugar topping.
Anyway, give these a try. You won't be sorry.
Makes 24 muffins
Ingredients:
For the filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
For the muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
For the topping:
1/2 cup sugar
5 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Directions:
To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1 1/2-inches in diameter. Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil. Transfer to the freezer and chill until at least slightly firm, at least 2 hours.
To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350� F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.
To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.
To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons). Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces. Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely. Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.
Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving. (It may be hard to resist immediate consumption, but the cream cheese filling gets very hot!)
This recipe, which my friend Angie led me to, comes from a blog called Annie's Eats. I followed her recipe pretty much to the letter except when it came to the topping. I'm sure there is nothing wrong with Annie's topping, and I'll probably give it a try next time, but I decided to do a little experimenting. For half of the muffins, I thought that I'd go "topless" and sprinkle nothing at all on them. They are already plenty sweet and plenty rich. For the other dozen muffins, I did more of a brown sugar streusel topping. I mixed together about 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and a few tablespoons flour (no butter). I also scattered some chopped pecans across the top. Anyway, BOTH options are wonderful, but I think I have a slight preference for the brown sugar topping.
Anyway, give these a try. You won't be sorry.
Makes 24 muffins
Ingredients:
For the filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
For the muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
For the topping:
1/2 cup sugar
5 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Directions:
To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1 1/2-inches in diameter. Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil. Transfer to the freezer and chill until at least slightly firm, at least 2 hours.
To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350� F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.
To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.
To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons). Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces. Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely. Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.
Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving. (It may be hard to resist immediate consumption, but the cream cheese filling gets very hot!)
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