Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

These muffins are amazing!






















I saw these muffins on Annie's Eats and had to make them! It is beginning to be that time of year where all I want to eat is pumpkin. The week I made these muffins, I also made pumpkin pancakes and a pumpkin smoothie. Though I must say the pumpkin pancakes were quite spectacular, these muffins had them beat. These muffins are definitely better than anything I have had from Starbucks or Au Bon Pain. They received high appraisals from me, my boyfriend, my neighbors, and my coworkers. When that many people like them you know they must be good. If you are looking for a pumpkin muffin recipe do not bother looking any further this is really the best out there.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
adapted from Annie's Eats

Yield: 24 muffins

Ingredients:

For the muffins:

3 cups flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

4 eggs

1 ¼ cups vegetable oil (I used peanut oil because that is what I had on hand)

2 cups sugar

2 cups pumpkin puree

For the filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened (I used 1/3 less fat cream cheese)

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. (I only let it sit in the freezer while I made the rest of the recipe. The log was soft when I cut it, but it still worked well. Just a little messy)

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, 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.