This test recipe is brought to you by a little something I like to call stress baking. Overrun with problem sets? Not really sure what any of your professors are saying, ever? The answer is always muffins. (Actually, cupcakes, cookies, or even a nice waffle will do.)
Many of my peers--at least, those who subscribe to the "official" calendar of seasons--think that it is still summer, that autumn doesn't begin for another two days. But that, I say, is ridiculous. It is September. Summer does not last until September. More importantly, the average temperature in Houston is less than ninety degrees! It can't be summer.
At least, that's what I tell myself to justify a pumpkin spice recipe. (Starbucks has brought back the pumpkin spice latte, so if that's not the start of the autumn season, I don't know what is.)
I can confirm that these muffins are dangerously delicious. In fact, I hesitate to call them muffins, as I cannot advise eating them as part of a healthy and balanced breakfast.
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins (from Annie's Eats)
yields 24 muffins
There are three components to these muffins: muffin batter, streusel topping, and cream cheese filling. You need to make the cream cheese filling at least 2 hours in advance of the rest of the recipe.
For the cream cheese filling:
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1 c powdered sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar in a medium bowl, and mix until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil. Transfer to the freezer and chill until at least somewhat firm (at least 2 hours).
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| The unwrapped frozen cream cheese log on a dinner plate, for reference. |
For the muffins:
- 3 c flour
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 4 large eggs
- 2 c sugar
- 2 c pumpkin puree (for reference, a 12 oz. can has about 2 cups of pumpkin)
- 1 1/4 c vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 350 F and line muffin pan with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and baking soda. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree, and oil. Mix on medium-low speed (hand or stand) until blended. Add in the dry ingredients and mix by hand just until combined.
For the topping:
- 1/2 c sugar
- 5 tbsp flour
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 4 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Whisk together the sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Add the butter in pieces, and cut into the dry mixture (using pastry blender, two forks, or--shh--your fingers), until the mixture is coarse and crumbly.
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| dat streusel |
Fill each baking cup with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the cup. (I used a regular dinner spoon, and found that about one generous scoop did the trick.)
Cut the cream cheese log into 24 equal pieces, and place a piece of the cream cheese mixture into each baking cup.
Divide the remaining batter among the baking cups, making sure to cover the cream cheese completely. Sprinkle generously with prepared topping.
Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack (or inverted baking sheet, hue hue hue) to cool completely before serving. If you're going to try eating them while they're hot, be very, very, very careful of the possibly molten and face-burning-off cream cheese in the middle.
Enjoy! I hope to be back soon with another recipe (and by soon I mean this semester).
