Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

These muffins are to DIE for! No joke! They can be a little time consuming but totally worth it! Keep in mind the cream cheese filling needs to sit in freezer for at least 2 hours before making muffins. These are delicious fresh out of the oven, HOT or even better the next day cooled down! Make sure you have some one to gift these puppies to or they'll all end up in your tummy!

from the blog The Girl Who Ate Everything

Ingredients

For the filling:
• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup powdered 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 (see Note)
• 1¼ cups vegetable oil
For the topping:
• ½ cup sugar
• 5 tablespoons flour
• 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and powdered 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 1½-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. The mixture will still be somewhat soft but firmer.

Instructions

1. 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.
2. 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. I always get inpatient here and mix it together with my hands so that it looks like the texture of wet sand. I know you aren't supposed to do it this way but I'm impatient. Transfer to the refrigerator to chill until ready to use.
3. 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. You want to put the cream cheese lower than you think because it will rise a lot during the baking process. 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.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving. I like them warm, cold, and room temperature.

Notes

Note: A standard sized can of pumpkin is 15 ounces, just shy of 2 cups (16 ounces). You could open another can if you want and freeze the extra or just use one can which is what I did. The amount is so little I don't think it makes a difference in the final product.

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