Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

How can you go wrong when cream cheese and pumpkin are joined in holy matrimony? These muffins were divine! Thank you to www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/

For the filling:

4 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup powdered sugar

For the muffins:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup vegetable oil

For the topping:

1/4 cup sugar

2 1/2 Tbsp flour

3/4 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

To prepare the filling, combine cream cheese and powdered sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1 1/2" 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 slightly firm, at least 2 hrs. The mixture will still be somewhat soft but firmer. (Confession: I only froze the cream cheese mixture for maybe 30 minutes and it still worked)

To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prep muffin pan with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

Fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom. Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 12 equal pieces and place into the center of each muffin of batter. You want to put the cream cheese lower than you think because i t will rise a lot during the baking process. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups. Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Trasfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving. I thought they tasted even better the next day.