Another lovely recipe, Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Muffins, courtesy of Joy Of Baking. I had to search to find some pumpkin puree, but found it in Waitrose, so I was all set to go.
The muffins are flavoured with the pumpkin and some spices and then a nice cream cheese mixture is spooned into a dip in the batter, so that as it bakes the muffin comes up around the cream cheese which sets nicely.
It is a simple enough recipe and the results are very good indeed, certainly a nice treat on a lovely autumnal day.
The recipe below will make about 12 muffins, direct in the muffin pan without paper cases.
Ingredients:
Cream Cheese Filling:
- 227 g full fat cream cheese, at room temperature
- 65 g granulated white sugar
- 1 lmedium egg, at room temperature (55 grams out of shell)
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pumpkin Muffins:
- 195 g all purpose flour
- 200 g granulated white sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 113 g unsalted butter, softened
- 2 medium eggs, at room temperature (110 grams out of shell)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 170 g solid packed, canned pumpkin puree
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Place your oven rack in the middle of your oven. Butter or spray each muffin cup with a non stick vegetable spray.
- In your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth.
- Add the sugar, egg, and vanilla extract and beat until creamy and smooth.
- Set aside while you make the muffin batter.
- In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat to combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, ground spices, and salt.
- Add the butter, eggs, vanilla extract, and pumpkin puree.
- Beat the wet and dry ingredients together at medium speed until the batter is smooth and satiny, about 30-60 seconds.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Fill the muffin cups evenly (about 2/3 full) with the batter using two spoons or an ice cream scoop.
- Make a well in the center of the batter of each muffin andthen spoon a few tablespoons of the cream cheese filling into the well.
- Place in the oven and bake for about 18 -20 minutes,or until the cream cheese filling has set and the pumpkin feels springy to the touch (a toothpick inserted into the pumpkin part of the muffin will come out clean.)
- Place on a wire rack to cool.