Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Fall is in the air, or more like winter here in Utah.  Which means pumpkin flavored everything.

  Two days ago I made some caramel stuffed pumpkin snickerdoodles. They were very tasty. I couldn't get a good enough picture of them, so I will post the recipe next time I make them.  The dough was eggless, so I ended up filling up on dough before I even tried a cookie. Yum!

I had some leftover pumpkin, so I decided to make these muffins. 

Jake, my husband, only likes sweets when he is really hungry. So I decided to make them for right when he got home from work. He could eat one, then we could have dinner :). And he loved them!

Hope you enjoy them :)

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins 

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup (50g) dark brown sugar (or light brown)
• 1/2 cup (62g) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup (60g) unsalted butter, melted

• 1 and 3/4 cups (220g) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice*
• 1/2 cup (100g) dark brown sugar (or light brown)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup (227g) pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil (or canola, or melted coconut oil)
• 1/3 cup (80ml) milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 6 ounces (168g) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 Tablespoons (36g) granulated sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425F degrees. Line two muffin sheets with 14 liners or spray with non-stick spray. Set aside.

Make the crumb-topping first: Add the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon to a small bowl and mix until combined. Add the melted butter and mix until crumbs form. Set aside.

Make the pumpkin muffins: In a large bowl, toss the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice together until combined. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the brown sugar and eggs together until combined. Whisk in the pumpkin, oil, milk, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Do NOT overmix the batter.

Make the cheesecake filling: In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric handheld (or stand) mixer on medium-high speed until creamy. Add the egg yolk, vanilla extract, and sugar. Beat until combined.

Spoon 1 Tablespoon of pumpkin muffin batter into the muffin cups. Layer with about 1 spoonful (not quite a full Tablespoon) of cheesecake filling, then another Tablespoon of muffin batter (or however much batter is needed to fill the cups all the way to the top). Yes, you will fill the muffin cups to the very top. Some cheesecake filling may poke out of the top or on the sides. Sprinkle each muffin evenly with crumb topping and press the topping down into the muffin so it sticks.

Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425F degrees. Keeping the muffins in the oven, lower the temperature down to 350F and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Try not to overbake.  Allow the muffins to cool for 10 minutes in the muffin sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool until ready to eat.