Hey, Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin Caramel Cake. Pumpkin and Kahlua Cheesecake. Pumpkin Waffles. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. I’ve seen so many delicious pumpkin treats the last few weeks, I thought I’d try making one of my own. I’ve been wanting to try making Pumpkin Bread and Pumpkin Muffins. I’ve also been wanting to bake something pumpkiny with cream cheese. And I always like a little crunchy texture in a treat. So, here you have my Hey, Pumpkin Muffins: lots of pumpkiny fall yumminess, stuffed with a cream cheese filling, and topped with toasted pecans. 

Here’s What You’ll Need:

For the Filling

1 Package (8 ounces) Plain Cream Cheese

2 Tablespoons Pure Maple Syrup

1 Teaspoon Cognac (optional)

For the Muffins

1 Can (15 ounces) Pure Pumpkin

1 Cup Granulated Sugar

½ Cup Brown Sugar

½ Cup Melted Butter

3 Eggs

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla

2 ¼ Cup All Purpose Flour

1 ½ Teaspoons Baking Powder

¾ Teaspoon Baking Soda

¾ Teaspoon Salt

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

¼ Teaspoon Nutmeg

¼ Teaspoon Ground Ginger

Just a Pinch of Cloves

A Few Handfuls of Crushed Pecans (toasted)

Here’s How To Make Them:

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Step 2: In a blender or with a hand mixer, blend eight ounces of cream cheese, two tablespoons of pure maple syrup, and a teaspoon of cognac. The cognac is optional. If you don’t have any cognac, some bourbon would work well, too.

Step 3: Put your cream cheese mix into a bowl and place it in the freezer to get it really cold before baking. 

Step 4: Roughly crush some pecans and toast them in your oven for about five minutes.

Step 5: While your pecans are toasting, mix together pumpkin, both types of sugars, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla.

Step 6: In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.

Step 7: Add your pumpkin mix to your dry mix and fold to combine all the ingredients together.

Step 8: Prepare some muffin tins by buttering them or using a non-stick spray. Then using a small ice cream scoop or spoon, fill each tin about half way full.

Step 9: Take the cream cheese mixture out of the freezer. Using a small spoon, place a dollop of the cold cream cheese mixture in the middle of each muffin.

Step 10: Spoon the rest of the pumpkin muffin batter over the cream cheese mixture and smooth over the top, so they’re as flat as possible.

Step 11: Top the muffins with toasted pecans.

Step 12: Bake the pumpkin muffins at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Step 13: Let the muffins cool for five to ten minutes, then enjoy!