Picture Perfect Cooking

October is in full swing and that means that bloggers everywhere are embracing pumpkin as an ingredient.  I must admit that pumpkin is not my favorite flavor, but I like it well enough.  This month’s Dessert Challenge at Lady Behind The Curtain features pumpkin and cream cheese so I went searching for a new recipe to try.

I really like muffins and it was an easy decision when I found this recipe at Sweet & Crumby.  Her recipe makes 24 muffins so I made a half batch instead.  The muffins are really moist and have a great flavor, but if I make them again, I will probably sweeten the cream cheese just a tiny bit before I put it in the muffins.  Otherwise, this was a really tasty treat!

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp. apple pie spice

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup canned pumpkin

5 oz. vegetable oil

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

4 tbsp. brown sugar

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and put liners in a muffin pan. Sift the flour, spice, baking soda and salt together on a paper plate and set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, oil, sugar, and eggs.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet and gently stir until combined.  Don’t over mix the batter and don’t worry if there are a few lumps left.

Using a small cookie scoop, fill the muffin tins about 2/3 full. You will have a little batter left over. Cut the cream cheese into 12 pieces and put one piece into each muffin, pressing it down into the batter.  Then spoon a little extra batter over the top to completely cover the cream cheese.

In a separate small bowl, combine the brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon and butter until crumbly.  Sprinkle a little of the topping over each muffin.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool and enjoy!

Please join me and others at the Lady Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge.

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