Thursday, October 23, 2008

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins!


I LOVE these! So good on a cold morning with a cup of coffee, if they aren't just out of the oven throw it in the microwave and warm is up... so good! I found this recipe on Annie's Eats and knew I had to star to it make later and I found the PERFECT time. One of Chris's best friends from college is coming into town tonight! I didn't want him to have to make his own breakfast on Friday, while Chris and I were at work, so I figured, Lets Make Muffins! YUMMM! Sadly I am not one to read the directions (only ingredients) all the way through before I begin, so I didnt' read the "freeze the cream cheese mixture" part until I was ready to start... so while I TRIED to freeze it, I didn't let it FULLY freeze, but they were STILL awesome! YEA! So here's what you do!
Ingredients

For the muffins:
3 cups flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. and 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 eggs
1 ¼ cups vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree

For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar

For the streusel topping:
½ cup sugar
¼ cup and 1 tsp. flour
4 tbsp. butter, cubed
1 ½ tsp. cinnamon

Directions
To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and whip until smooth. Form into a log on plastic wrap or foil, making sure that the diameter is small enough to fit into the well of a muffin pan. Wrap the log up tightly and freeze until slightly hardened, 1-2 hours.

To make the muffins, combine the flour, spices, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Mix well and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, vegetable oil, sugar and pumpkin puree. Mix until well combined. Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined.

To make the streusel topping, combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Mix together with a pastry blender or two forks until crumbly.

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two muffin pans with paper liners. To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well halfway with batter. Remove the cream cheese log from the freezer and slice into 24 equal slices. Place a slice in each muffin well. Divide the remaining muffin batter evenly among the muffin cups, on top of the cream cheese. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the top of the batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

And Enjoy!!!

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