- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups pumpkin puree
- 1 ¼ cups vegetable oil
To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. It will look like slightly underfirm frosting.
To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In an electric blender, combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. (You can actually used cubed, roasted pumpkin and use the blender to puree it all.) Blend until smooth. With the mixer on low speed, add in the wet ingredients to the dry ones, mixing just until incorporated.
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). I like using a scant #20 disher (3 T.) to measure out the pumpkin batter. Then, using a #60 disher (2 tsp.), place a small dollop of cream cheese filling in the center of the pumpkin batter. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely.
Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving.
- Yields: 24 muffins
- Preparation Time: 40 minutes