Fall is in the air. Really. It may not always feel that way in October in the Deep South but Halloween is coming up quickly, which means Thanksgiving isn‘t far behind. These yummy muffins are just the thing to get us all in the spirit. This recipe comes from the April 2013 issue of Coastal Living magazine. I saved it for the fall because there’s just something about pumpkin and cinnamon and cloves that just seems perfect for this time of year.
Pumpkin-Cream Cheese Streusel Muffins
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ¾ cups sugar, divided
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
4 tablespoons chilled butter
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons salt
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 (15-oz) can pumpkin
1 cup vegetable oil
½ cup milk
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Like 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with paper liners.
Stir together cream cheese, vanilla extract, and ½ cup sugar in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Combine ½ cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl; cut in butter with a fork or pastry blender until large crumbs form. Set aside.
Combine remaining 3 cups flour, remaining 1 ¾ cups guar, remaining 2 teaspoons cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together eggs, pumpkin, oil and milk in a medium bowl; stir in egg mixture into flour mixture, just until moist. (Do not over mix.)
Spoon half of batter into prepared muffin pans. Dollop about 1 tablespoon reserved cream cheese mixture in center of batter, and top evenly with remaining batter. Sprinkle with reserved streusel mixture.
Bake 20 to 23 minutes. Remove from pans; cool on a wire rack.
Makes 2 dozen muffins.
