Punkin' Chunkin'

I LOVE all things pumpkin! It screams fall and and reminds me my birthday is coming up. Although, that used to get me a lot more excited when I was younger, I still look forward to it.
Since it's now officially fall, I took today to make up a batch of Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Muffins. I know I said earlier in the week that I was going to try to restock the freezer but this last week at work was so crazy that I decided to take the weekend off. It just goes to show you have to roll with the punches.

Smells like fall!

 

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Filled 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 salt

1 tsp baking soda

4 large eggs

2 cups sugar

2 cups pumpkin puree

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil or applesauce (I use half of each)

 

Directions:

To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Refrigerate the mix while you make the muffins.

Preheat oven to 350F and line muffin pans. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda then whisk to combine. Set aside. In another large bowl, mix with an electric mixer on medium speed and combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree, and oil until blended. Turn the mixer on low and add the dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated.

Fill each muffin cup with enough muffin batter to cover the bottom, about 1-2 Tbsps. Place a dollop of the cream cheese mixture in the center of each muffin and then top with the remaonong batter, covering the cream cheese completely.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving. Do NOT  eat these hot from the oven. The cream cheese will be extremely hot and it will taste better when it's cool.

You'll notice the muffins in the back row of the picture have pecans on them. I sprinkled a few chopped pecans on the batter before I put in the cream cheese mixture and again on the top of the muffin itself.
I hope you get a chance to make these muffins. They are definately worth it!