Pumkin Cream Cheese Muffins

          Ok, it’s official, I have truly redeemed myself for the Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Cookies (sorry if you liked them. I thought they were a little “off”). First, let me tell you about my Tuesday. I started my job on Monday, or career J I will be a Guest Services Senior Team Lead at Target! So basically, I will be managing the front of a Target (Including the cash register area, the Guest Service and returns area, the Food Avenue, and a Starbucks) Yeah, that last one made me smile too.

          Anyway, Tuesday I didn’t have to work until 3:30, because I am still in training and we were closing the store that night. I decided this would be a great chance to sleep in till 9 and then go do Zumba. I love Zumba! That went really well. Then, after Zumba I stopped at Starbucks for a Tall 2 pump Pumpkin Spice 1 pump White Mocha latte with skim milk and no whip cream (yes, a mouthful). That went well. THEN, I went to the grocery store, because the deli has fantastic, fresh sushi. I got a Spicy Salmon Roll, YUM. I also decided it would be a great day to make my Carrot Cupcakes with Orange White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing, so I bought all the missing ingredients I needed.

          Here’s the kicker. I get out to my car. It doesn’t start. Awesome. What am I supposed to do? Well, I call my mom and we try to figure out who could come get me or jump my car. Turns out the closest and most available person was my cousin, who is 16 and in school. He had to leave school during lunch to come jump my car. I love him. And my family. That could have been a huge disaster. Luckily, our grocery store is near a Lowes, so I walked over there to buy the jumper cables while I waited for him.

          THEN, on my way home, I called and requested a song on the radio and I GOT THROUGH! That is a huge success in my book. Still waiting to hear the song though haha.. Ok, last part of the story. I get home and I do NOT have all the ingredients to make my cupcakes, so I had to resort to a recipe from Pinterest for Pumpkin Creem Cheese Muffins with Spiced Crumb Topping, even though I had to use Splenda instead of sugar and egg whites instead of whole eggs. To end the day, I didn’t get to leave work until 12:40am. Oh, and my car wouldn’t start again, so I had to get someone I work with to jump it.

          As you can see, I had a series of ups and downs on Tuesday, but luckily the final up was the muffins! They turned out fabulously! I did change the recipe quite a bit, but you can find the original recipe here.

·         Easiness---6---It was a bit time consuming to mix everything, because you have to do it in 3 different sections.

·         Yumminess---10---WOW. This might be my new favorite, especially for breakfast.

·         Repeat---10---Yes, I would love to make these again! Soon!

 

INGREDIENTS

For the muffins

·         1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

·         2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

·         1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

·         1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

·         1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

·         1/2 teaspoon baking soda

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         2 eggs

·         1 cup granulated sugar

·         1 cup canned pumpkin

·         1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

·         1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For the filling:

·         4 ounces cream cheese, softened

·         1/2 cup powdered sugar

·         1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

For the crumb topping:

·         1/2 cup all-purpose flour

·         1/3 cup brown sugar

·         1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

·         Make the filling by combining the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl and stirring until smooth. Scrape the mixture out onto a piece of plastic wrap at least 12 inches long. Form the mixture into a 12-inch log, wrap tightly, and freeze for at least two hours.

·         Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.

·         Make the crumb topping by using a fork to combine the flour, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and melted butter in a small bowl.

·         In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, thoroughly combine the sugar, canned pumpkin, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir gently with a spatula just until completely combined.

·         Remove the cream cheese filling from the freezer and cut it into 12 one-inch pieces. Divide the muffin batter evenly among the muffin cups. Press one piece of the cream cheese filling into the center of each muffin, then sprinkle each muffin with about one tablespoon of the crumb topping. Gently press the topping into the batter to ensure that it sticks.

·         Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center muffin comes out clean. Cool muffins in the pan for about five minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in the refrigerator.

·         Makes about 12 muffins