"P" is for Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Aside from eating Pepperoni Pizza, Pancakes, Pretzels, Pickles, Mashed Potatoes, Potato Chips, Chicken Pot Pie and Popcorn this week, we had the pleasure of delivering these Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins to a dear lady from church, Priscilla.  (and there are many "P" foods we didn't get to...what a fun letter!)

I adore Priscilla.  She's a grandmother of 14 and spends much of her time caring for her husband, who isn't well....and she is a faithful worker in our 3-year old nursery at church for two months out of every year.  She's just the sweetest lady....so it was really fun to get to bless her with a treat this week.

We delivered the muffins to her on Pink Paper Plates, and she in turn gave the children Peppermint candy canes.  Such fun!

These muffins are delicious, worth the extra effort and time it takes to make them. The recipe makes a big batch - it said it yielded 24 muffins, but I had enough batter left over to make 24 mini-muffins without the filling.  I even had leftover topping after that! 

Recipe: (adapted from Annie's Eats)
Yield: 24 muffins, plus 24 miniature muffins (without filling)

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

For the muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour (I used half whole wheat)
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (I was a little short on this, but they still had plenty of flavor)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
1/2 cup applesauce
3/4 cup coconut oil (or canola oil)

For the topping:
½ cup sugar
5 tbsp. flour
1½ 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 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.

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, applesauce, 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.

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. That cream cheese filling gets hot!

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