What? It’s Monday again? Wasn’t it just Friday, and wasn’t I just sipping on a delicious caramel apple pie martini?
Don’t you just hate how the weekend flies by at lightening speed, while the dreaded work week creeps by at a snails pace? Would it help if I told you I had muffins for you today? Well, I do and they’re quite special.
This week, An let us loose into the wild. She only gave us one rule…make something using pumpkin. That’s it? No recipe? No guidelines? Freedom? As you can imagine, I went a bit wild at first. I love pumpkin, and I wanted to make something special. Something different. I decided to make a pumpkin muffin stuffed with sweet cream cheese and topped with toasted pumpkin seeds and a cinnamon sugar crust.
Hello, muffin!
As you read this post, I may be flapping in the wind from the hurricane force winds, soaked to the bones from the relentless rain, or floating down the street in our fishing boat. But, hey, I’ll have these muffins to snack on!
The grocery stores have been packed to the brim with desperate shoppers this weekend, stocking up on bread, toilet paper, and milk in preparation for Sandy. Me, I stocked up on martini and muffin supplies. I suppose our priorities are different.
I just don’t understand the choice of storm staples. Toilet paper, I get (kind of). Bread and milk, not so much. If my power goes out, milk isn’t going to stay fresh. And, honestly, how many sandwiches are you really going to eat? I’m thinking water and canned goods are a better choice.
These muffins are the BEST muffins I have ever had. You get the crunch from the cinnamon sugar and pumpkin seed crust, then you bite into a moist, cakey muffin with the sweet cream filling. Oh, it’s good.
It’s dessert for breakfast.
Enjoy!
- Cream Cheese Filling:
- 8 oz. cream cheese, cold
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- Muffins:
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- ¼ tsp. kosher salt
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1¼ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 3 tbs. honey
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
- Cinnamon Sugar Topping:
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ tsp. cinnamon
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with papers.
- Cream Cheese Filling:
- In a medium bowl, add cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Using a hand mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Place the mixture in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Cinnamon Sugar Topping:
- Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl, whisk to combine.
- Muffins:
- In a medium bowl, add whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Mix to combine.
- In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, oil, honey, eggs, pumpkin, and vanilla. Slowly whisk in the buttermilk.
- Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and whisk until just combined.
- Fill the prepared muffin cups about a third of the way with the batter. Add a half tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture to each tin, then top with the remaining batter.
- Top with pumpkin seeds and a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Let cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Hi and welcome to my flour-dusted kitchen! The name's Jennie. I'm a lover of cupcakes, an avid spatula licker, and a huge fan of sprinkles. Baking is my passion, but you'll find some savory dishes scattered amongst copious amounts of frosting and chocolate. I love hearing from ya, so feel free to leave me some love. Thanks for stopping by my little piece of the interweb.
