Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

I made a batch of these muffins for a Christmas party, and they were snatched up in no time!  While we usually associate pumpkin with the holidays, I love it all winter long...  These babies are fantastic, and are a crowd-pleaser to boot.

Filling:
1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 c powdered sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla

Muffins:
3 c flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp cloves
1 TBSP plus 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
4 eggs
2 c sugar
2 c pumpkin puree
1 1/4 c canola oil
1 tsp vanilla

Topping:
1/2 c sugar
5 TBSP flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 TBSP cold butter, cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 350° and fill 2 muffin tins with paper liners.

Whip together ingredients for filling until smooth.  Cover and refrigerate while you work on muffin batter.

For muffins, combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda.  Set aside.  In another bowl, combine eggs, sugar, pumpkin, vanilla and oil.  Mix with electric mixer on low until blended.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix slowly until combined.

For topping, combine sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a bowl.  Add in butter pieces and cut into dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or fork until coarse and crumbly.  Keep in refrigerator until ready to use.

To assemble muffins, fill each muffin liner with about 2 TBSP of batter.  Spoon 1 TBSP of cream cheese filling into the center of each liner (on top of the batter).  Cover the filling with additional batter, covering cream cheese completely.  Sprinkle with 1 TBSP of streusel mixture.

Bake 20-25 minutes.  Cool completely before eating (filling will be VERY hot) and store in an airtight container.

Comments from the cook:  I didn't need to change anything from the original recipe...and they turned out perfectly!  I did have to make a make-shift version of pumpkin pie spice at the last minute (thank you, all-knowing internet for helping me make a quick substitution!).  I'm looking forward to needing a reason to make these again...

Original recipe found here (helpful step-by-step pictures available there!).  Ingredient list and most of directions taken from her site.

Pepperoni Pizza Muffins

When I found this recipe online, I KNEW we would need to try it.  I don't know anyone who loves pizza as much as Brian and I do, so it was worth a shot.  I made them one Friday night, and they were excellent.  Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  Yum!  These would be perfect for a party or get-together with friends...

3/4 c flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 TBSP Italian seasoning
pinch of salt
pinch of red pepper flakes
3/4 c milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 c shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup sliced pepperoni (quartered)
marinara sauce

Preheat oven to 375°.  Grease mini-muffin cup pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, Italian seasoning, salt and red pepper flakes.  Mix in the milk and egg.  Stir in mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, and pepperoni.

Let stand 10 minutes.

Stir batter and pour into muffin cups.  Bake 20-25 minutes.

Serve with marinara sauce of your choice.

Comments from the cook:  I made these into full-size muffins (instead of minis) and the recipe made 12 muffins.  I baked them for about 25 minutes, and they were perfect.  


The original version of this recipe (by Rachael Ray, apparently) did not call for salt or red pepper flakes...but the version I used had them, and I thought they tasted great!

Recipe found here.  Ingredients and majority of instructions taken from her site.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

My mom told me about these muffins quite some time ago... They're SO EASY - only 3 ingredients! And the taste? Fabulous. I even stockpiled on pumpkin this Fall (heaven forbid there be a shortage again), just so I could make these muffins anytime I wanted...

1 spice cake mix
1 (15 oz) can solid pack pumpkin
1/2 bag mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
water (optional)

Combine cake mix (powder only - no need to add the oil or eggs) and pumpkin with mixer until well blended.

Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon into greased muffin tins.

Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes, or until they pass the "clean toothpick" test.

Comments from the cook: I add about 1/2 cup water to the batter to make it a bit thinner. I suppose if you were going to make these into cookies instead of muffins, you'd probably want the batter to be the original consistency (no water added). But, while we're on the subject, I'll just go ahead and admit that I'll probably always make these into muffins rather than cookies. Muffins sound less guilt-inducing than cookies, no? :)

Also, spice cake mixes can be a little harder to find, but rumor has it that a yellow cake mix will also work and taste fantastic. My mom even used a carrot cake mix once in a pinch.These are a great treat with a cup of hot chocolate in the dead of winter...

Makes about 24 muffins.

Originally passed on from my mom, Alane. (As you can see, she did hers in mini-bundt pans, left out the choc chips, then added caramel frosting and a pastry-dough cinnamon-sugar leaf to hers. MAN, she's always taking things to the next level... I love it!)

Pumpkin Muffins

Dry ingredients:

3 1/3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger

Wet ingredients:

1 cup oil
4 eggs
2/3 c water
2 cups solid pack pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350°.

Spray muffin tins with cooking spray or line with cupcake papers.

Combine dry ingredients. Then add wet ingredients. Stir until no longer lumpy.

Fill muffin tins 3/4 full and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until they pass the toothpick doneness test!

Brown Sugar Glaze:

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick), melted
3/4 cup brown sugar
few shakes of salt from the salt-shaker
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk

Melt butter in medium bowl. Add brown sugar and stir until dissolved.

Sprinkle salt in. Add powdered sugar. Mixture will be chunky (and resemble oatmeal!).

Add milk and stir until dissolved.

Dip mostly-cooled muffins upside-down in glaze, or wait a few moments and spread on with a knife.

Makes 36-40 muffins.

Comments from the cook: Pumpkin muffins = Fall. And, I fought everything in me to hoard the solid-pack pumpkin I found the other day...but these muffins? I'm no match for them, I tell you.

This is a huge recipe, and makes a LOT of muffins. My mom usually makes loaves, and just bakes them for longer. From what I remember, she usually made some loaves with walnuts. Just smother your bread/muffins with butter before eating, and you can't go wrong. Mmmmm-hmmmm.

This glaze was my first attempt at a non-cream-cheese frosting, and it is quite sweet. A brown sugar flavor without the thickness of frosting...

Originally a recipe from my mom. I managed to misplace it (or never wrote it down in a safe place), and then found a close facsimile online, here. (Mom, if yours is different, please email me IMMEDIATELY!)

Banana Streusel Muffins

Muffins:

1 cup flour
1/2 c granulated sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 TBSP (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup plain yogurt)
1 lg egg, lightly beaten
1 lg banana, mashed
1 tsp vanilla
Topping:

1 TBSP cold butter, cut into pieces
1 TBSP brown sugar
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 TBSP flour
salt

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a loaf pan or muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup flour, the sugar, baking powder, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Stir in the melted butter and plain yogurt. Add the egg and beat for 1 minute. Add the banana and vanilla. Stir until well combined. Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared pan or into muffin tin (makes about 12 muffins).

Make topping by mashing together the tablespoon of cold butter with the tablespoon of flour, the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and a pinch of salt. Distribute the topping evening over the batter. Bake for 40-45 minutes for loaf or 20-25 minutes for muffins, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes before removing from loaf pan or muffin tin.

Comments from the cook: A.Maz.Ing. These muffins represent one of my few cooking ventures since I've been so sick and pregnant. They are fantastic, and the streusel topping is to DIE FOR.

I doubled this recipe, and it made about 20 muffins. I've always been a fan of streusel, so I actually did a little more than the recipe called for. That can't hurt anything, right??

Best served with Mylanta...or your juice of choice! :)

Originally found on this website, taken from this book. (Most text taken from website).

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

1/2 c shortening
1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
3 mashed bananas
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
2 c flour
1/2 bag (6 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream sugar and shortening. Add eggs one at a time. Add mashed bananas and mix until smooth.

Add dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Add chocolate chips and mix just until blended.

Pour mixture into muffin tins (greased if not using papers).

Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes.

Comments from the cook: Somehow in college, the page from my Betty Crocker cookbook that had banana bread on it disappeared. When Brian and I got married, a banana bread recipe was (fantastically enough) actually part of his dowry. (Do men have a dowry?) This is his mom's recipe, and it's a go-to one for us. Could be because we seem to be a dead-banana harvesting FACTORY around here. We just never get to the last one before it dies a terrible death and moves to the freezer. But, not all death is terrible...as dead bananas make the best muffins!

I generally don't like to add an entire bag of chocolate chips to any recipe. I use half a bag for these, and they're fantastic.

Best when served warm...and perfect defrosted after a bout in the freezer. (Would you expect anything less from a recipe made from dead bananas that live in the freezer for AGES before they become muffins??)

Originally shared by Debby Mathias (by way of Brian Mathias' dowry).

Sweet Wheat Muffins

1 c whole wheat flour
1 c white flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 c brown sugar
1 c milk
2 eggs
1/3 c canola oil

Beat eggs. Add milk and canola oil. Stir.

Add brown sugar. Stir.

Stir in flours, salt, and baking powder.

Add 1/2 c walnuts (optional).

Cook for 15 minutes at 425°.

Makes about a dozen.

Comments from the cook: These muffins are great with a little bit of honey-butter. While we eat them for breakfast, they are quite dense and would be a great companion to soup or stew.

In the future, I am going to try to substitute applesauce for part of the oil...not because they don't taste really good (they do!), but why not cut down the fat if possible, right? I also may try to go all whole-wheat flour, as the name suggests. We'll see what happens...

p.s. Sorry for the brief hiatus! When I'm not happy with the photographs, I don't post the recipes. This one was a struggle. You want new stuff, and I want these little guys to appear in a better picture. You win!

Originally shared by Alane Sleight (Mom!).

Brown Sugar Muffins

1/2 c margarine or shortening, softened
1 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 c milk
2 c flour
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Mix ingredients together and pour into greased muffin tins.

Bake 15-20 min at 375°.

Makes about 16 muffins.

Comments from the cook: These are my new favorite! They are nice and chewy, and are the perfect companion to homemade stew. Brian's mom even made them for breakfast sometimes. Their sweetness is just right, and they're likely to become a staple around here.

I accidentally used butter instead of margarine, and it browned the edges perfectly. Next time, I will probably try them with wheat flour, just to change things up...

Originally shared by Debby Mathias, my mother-in-law