Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Hello! Where have you been all of my life? These muffins are fantastic! Just the smell of them cooking makes your mouth water. The cream cheese filling was rich and creamy. The crumb topping was perfect. Oh my, I think I need to make more muffins!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Ingredients:

For the filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cup confectioners' sugar

For the muffins:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. 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 tbsp. flour

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

4 tbsp. 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 platic 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. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whish 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 lower 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. 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.

Yield: 24 muffins

Recipe Source: Annie's Eats