Cream Cheese and Streusel Filled Pumpkin Spice Muffins
Yay!! The air has turned cool and the skies are the most beautiful shade of cozy gray. It is my favorite time of the year…Fall. The trees are just starting to whisper their sneaky intentions of changing their leaves from Summer’s greens to the vibrant fiery oranges, reds and yellows. The birds, bunnies and squirrels notice the shift in seasons as well – they seem to fly & scamper a little faster, with lots of work to do before the cold is upon them.
Speaking of work, school is in full swing — and have I mentioned we are in a new school routine this year? It’s called “homeschool”. Wow. There are a lot of little people around me a lot of the time, asking me a lot of things ((not to mention — I can’t remember the last time I thought about the subject matter in question))…I find myself thinking “What WAS I thinking?”. haha…sniff…haha.
Actually, it is great – most of the time. I am partnering with a local private school to help in the homeschooling process, so the boys do GO to school twice a week. I am solely homeschooling Gracie, but we have been together for her entire life so we are used to being together all day. ((Notice the cup & pad of paper in the background?? Someone is doing school work while I am making these muffins. Multi-tasking at its finest!))
I also have the help and guidance of friends and family – so we are far from alone in our homeschooling adventure.
I don’t know why I told you that – but now you know why my hair is whiter and my wrinkles are deeper if we see each other in public.
Back to my recipe.
Not only are the leaves changing, cloudy skies appearing and the air temperatures dropping – pumpkin is making it’s appearance in kitchens across the country once again!
Why do I wait for all of these seasonal changes before I use one of my very most favorite cooking ingredients?? It is a mystery I never seem to find the answer to. Either way, pumpkin is back in the Schuermann kitchen and I have made a twist on one of my favorite pumpkin bread recipes. “Cream Cheese and Streusel Filled Pumpkin Spice Muffins”.
I used a spectacular “vintage” recipe — one I use every year to make pumpkin bread ((which mom gave me several decades ago)). Instead of making the bread, this time I whipped up a sweet cream cheese filling and a perfect bowl of streusel & layered everything into muffin cups. I topped it all off with a generous sprinkle of raw sugar crystals.
There are a few steps, but this recipe is still very straight forward. The pay off comes when that sweet pumpkin spice scent wafts through every corner of your home. No candle, so melting wax and no room spray can compete with the smell of these delicious muffins baking in your oven!
Because I layered the cream cheese and streusel in the center of the muffins, I decided to sprinkle some raw sugar on top of each muffin. This added a crisp ‘shell’ to the top of each pumpkin treat … it may just be my favorite part of the whole muffin!
- 2 2/3 c sugar
- 2/3 c butter
- 4 eggs
- 1-16 oz can of pumpkin
- 2/3 c water
- 3 1/3 c flour
- 1/2 t salt
- 2 t baking soda
- 1/2 t baking powder
- 1 1/2 t cloves
- 1 1/2 t cinnamon
- 1-8 oz. block of cream cheese ((I used the Greek/cream cheese blend))
- 1 c powdered sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 c oats ((I used quick cooking))
- 1 c flour
- 1/2 c sugar
- 1/2 c brown sugar
- 1 t salt
- 1/3 c butter (I used salted)
- 1/2 c raw sugar crystals
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners and set aside.
- Add sugar and butter to the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Cream together on low-speed. Add eggs ((one egg at a time)) to the creamed mixture. After the eggs are completely incorporated, add pumpkin and water.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients, lightly mixing with a whisk to thoroughly incorporate.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in thirds, mixing on medium-low speed between additions. Once the wet and dry ingredients are thoroughly mixed, set aside and prepare streusel and cream cheese fillings.
- In another mixing bowl that attaches to the stand mixer, combine cream cheese filling ingredients and mix on medium-high speed until the filling is smooth.
- Combine streusel filling ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. I find this part is easiest to do with my hands. Once the ingredients are perfectly combined set aside and prepare a muffin assembly line.
- Line up the three bowls of muffin batter, cream cheese filling and streusel filling next to your lined muffin tins. Using a 2 T scoop, place one scoop of muffin batter into the bottom of every muffin liner. Make sure the bottom of each liner is completely covered. ((You may have to tap and gently shake the muffin tin, or spread the batter out with a spoon. Next place about one tablespoon of cream cheese filling on top of the muffin batter, then top the cream cheese filling layer with streusel ((about 1 heaping tablespoon)). Scoop one more layer of batter atop the filling and sprinkle each muffing with 1/2 t of raw sugar crystals.
- Place in the preheated oven for 18-22 minutes. Conduct the toothpick test, when the toothpick comes out clean remove the muffins from the oven. Carefully lift muffins out of the tin and allow to cool on rack for 5-10 minutes before eating. Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
- Makes 36 muffins.
- *Be sure NOT to overfill the muffin liners! Leave approximately 1/2" space at the top of each liner.
I have several more ((sweet & savory)) pumpkin recipes to share with you – so get your pumpkin pants ready…it is sure to be a tasty Fall!