Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins | S.S. Heart

Welcome to my favourite muffin EVER.

Think I'm exaggerating? Think again.

These beauties are the epitome of fall. One bite whisks you away to a glorious fall walk through the park, stepping on freshly fallen leaves as you clutch your PSL and burry your face into your cashmere scarf....oh fall!!

I've been baking these muffins for FOUR years now. I know. I've been holding out on you.

Now just warning you...there is not a single healthy thing in these muffins. They are gluten-packed, sugar-abundant and have cream cheese filling for all you lactose lovers.

Yes...I did say cream cheese filling.

These darlings are packed with a healthy amount of that purely golden cream cheese filling.

mmmmmmhmmmmmmm.

And after you fill the muffin liners up you sprinkle a generous helping of the butter/sugar/flour/cinnamon topping.

Yep you're welcome.

PUMPKIN MUFFINS WITH CREAM CHEESE FILLING

makes 26 muffins

INGREDIENTS

For the filling:

1 package cream cheese, softened
1 cup icing 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 (I googled how to make this)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
1¼ cups vegetable oil

For the topping:

½ cup sugar
5 tbsp. flour
1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

DIRECTIONS

Start by making the cream cheese filling. (Sometimes I'll do this the night before). Combine cream cheese and icing sugar in a mixer and mix until smooth. Place a quarter of the mixture on a piece of saran wrap and shape into a log about 1"-1.5" thick. Wrap the log with the plastic wrap then wrap tinfoil around it. Repeat until you have 4 cream cheese logs. Place the logs in the freezer and freeze for at lease two hours.
To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F and line your muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda. Combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil in an electric mixer and then mix on medium-low speed until blended. Turn down (for what!!) the mixer speed to low and then add in the dry ingredients.
To make the topping, whisk together the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Place topping in your fridge until you need it.
To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin liner with a small amount of batter (about 1-2 tbsp). Cut the log of cream cheese filling into 26 equal pieces. Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin cup then cover the cream cheese with the rest of the batter. Finish with a generous sprinkle of the sugar/flour/butter/cinnamon mixture.
Bake for 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving.
Enjoy!

recipe slightly adapted from Annie's Eats