Snickerdoodle Muffins with Crunchy Topping

My fall break is over, which means I only have 8 more weeks until I’m a big kid.  Graduating in December is so scary and exciting at the same time.

I’m still enjoying not waking up until 10, having the cafeteria make my food, going to formals with Kellen, and having advisors and teachers help me make my schedule.  Siiighhh…I will miss it all, but I’m also excited about having a career and makin’ some monaaayyy.

Anyway, to console myself, I made some delicious muffins.

Snickerdoodle Muffins with Crunchy Topping
Adapted from: Lil Luna

Ingredients:

• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 ¼ cups flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 3 tbsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Cream butter, sugar, salt and cinnamon until fluffy. Add egg and mix well.
2. Add vanilla and sour cream and mix well.
3. Mix flour, cream of tartar, and baking powder in a separate bowl.
4. Add to wet ingredients and mix until all combined.
5. Spoon batter into 12 cupcake liners in a cupcake tin.
6. Mix 3 tbsp sugar and 3 tbsp cinnamon in a bowl and sprinkle even amounts over each muffin.
7. Bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool and devour.

 

Cottage Cheese Blueberry Muffins

Cottage cheese?!  I know, sounds disgusting, but don’t knock it ’til you try it.

I was wary, too. However, when I looked in the fridge and we had an almost-full container of cottage cheese, I had to use it.

I just can’t waste food.  Did you know that American’s waste almost 40% of food produced for consumption?? And that was in 2011.

That’s just sad.  I use slimy spinach in my green monsters, black bananas in banana bread, and almost moldy bread for bread pudding.

Here are some more tricks for using “bad food”:

• Freeze sour milk. I know that sounds sick, but you can use sour milk for baking. (Hello, buttermilk.)
• Save vegetable scraps for stock. 
• Save fruit scraps for a nice smelling house. Just boil them in water and your house will smell great in minutes.
• Put oil and vinegar in an almost empty Mayo container to make salad dressing.
• Make “Overnight Oats in a Peanut Butter Jar” with almost empty peanut butter jars.
• Keep bacon grease for cooking.  
• If you don’t like the heels of bread, throw them in the food processor and use them as bread crumbs.

We waste so much because we can. Plain and simple.  Put yourself in someone’s shoes who doesn’t have the luxuries we do, and maybe you’ll think twice before you throw something out.

What do you do with “bad foods”?

Cottage Cheese Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened or coconut oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup creamed cottage cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a food processor, cream the cottage cheese until smooth.
3. In a mixer cream butter, sugar and cottage cheese until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla.
4. In separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Blend flour mixture with butter mixture just until blended.
5. Add milk and only stir just to blend — do not over mix.
6. Carefully fold in blueberries. Batter mixture will be thick.
7. Grease and flour a muffin tin (or use muffin tin holders).
8. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the tops are slightly browned and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Lemon Blueberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

Happy Father’s Day to all the wonderful dad’s out there.  I’m blessed to have such an awesome one! 🙂  Love you dad!


This is actually not what I made my dad for father’s day, but they’re still yummy and I’ve been meaning to put this recipe up!  They’re delicious muffins and fairly healthy for you!


I surprised my dad with one of his mother’s old coffee cake recipes and he loved it.  I’ll post the recipe soon!

I also made him this card:

He loves McDonalds.  He goes there to get coffee at least twice a day!

How are you all celebrating Father’s Day?

 

Lemon Blueberry Chocolate Chip Muffins
93 cals each!


Ingredients:


1 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup applesauce 
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1/3 cup dried fruit (I used blueberry infused craisins… umm YUM)
• 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. In a large bowl, combine the egg, oil, yogurt and vanilla. 2. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. Stir ingredients just until moistened.
4. Fold in dried fruit and chocolate chips.
5. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups by the tablespoon.
6. Bake at 350 degrees F for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before 
removing from pans to wire racks.

Guest Post: Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Oat Muffins (with Peanut Butter Surprise!)

First of all, I just want to say a HUGE thank you to beautiful Alaina for doing this post for me while I’m out of town.  She’s such a sweetheart and I love reading her blog.  If you haven’t read it yet, please do, I guarantee she’ll brighten your day. 🙂

—————————————–

Hi friends of Katie! I’m Alaina Rose and I blog over at Sweetness Of Life.

 

When Katie first contacted me about doing a guest post I was thinking, what?! Really? Are you sure? I’m a new blogger. I have NO idea what I’m doing! But, Katie assured me that she loves my blog and that’s why she asked me to do a guest post. So, here I am! I’m honored and excited to be here while Katie’s gone. Thanks so much Katie!

One thing I’ve learned during the short time I’ve been blogging is that the blogging community is so incredibly welcoming and friendly! There is an endless flow of inspiration, encouragement and support that is shared, and it’s beautiful to be a part of. I’ve met some amazing people that I now consider friends even though we’ve never actually physically met. I’ve also learned a lot about myself through blogging. It has given me the opportunity for reflection and has become a wonderful creative outlet for expressing myself and sharing. I feel that we ALL have gifts that can be used to inspire each other. Blogging is such a wonderful way to share those gifts and to connect and learn from yourself and others through the process. I encourage everyone to start a blog!

Even though I’ve been passionate about cooking and baking for years, it has reached a new level since I started blogging! Today I’m going to share with you one of my favorite muffin recipes. It’s actually one of the first recipes I posted on my blog! They are gluten-free, somewhat healthy, delicious and contain a lot of my favorite ingredients: coconut, pumpkin, peanut butter, oats and chocolate! I hope you like them!

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Oat Muffins (with Peanut Butter Surprise!)

Ingredients:

·      1 1/4 cup Pamela’s Gluten-free Baking and Pancake Mix (I’m sure you could try any other gluten-free baking mix, but this one is my fave!)

·      1/2 cup gluten-free oats

·      1 cup canned pumpkin

·      1/4 cup coconut oil

·      1/3 cup coconut milk (You can also use almond milk or soy milk. Whatever you like!)

·      1/3 cup maple syrup

·      1 tsp vanilla extract

·      1 tbsp cinnamon 

·      1/3 cup chocolate chips

·      PEANUT BUTTER!

Begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl mix together the pumpkin, melted coconut oil, vanilla extract, coconut milk and maple syrup. In another bowl, combine the flour, oats, cinnamon and chocolate chips. Then pour the liquid ingredients into the dry and mix together. Lightly oil your muffin tins or you can use muffin tin liners. Fill up the muffin tins or liners about halfway full. THEN, (this is the fun part!) put a dollop of peanut butter on top of the batter. Then put additional batter on top. Pop in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. This recipe makes 8 muffins.

I really hope you try these and that you love them! Thank you so much for having me! If you like what you see, please feel free to stop by my blog Sweetness Of Life and take a look around! And please don’t hesitate to comment. Comments from readers truly make my day!

Thank you again and have a beautiful day! 

Blueberry Muffins

I miss summer.

I like winter okay, but it snowed already and Christmas is over, so there is no more need for cold weather.  I like the concept of winter and I still get excited for it to come every year, but once it’s here, I’m ready for it to go away.

For some reason, these muffins just made me miss summer more.  I think it was the combination of the lemon and blueberry aroma that was consuming the kitchen.  I knew these muffins were going to be good just by smelling them. 

It’s hard to find a perfect blueberry muffin recipe and since it’s such a common one, I think everyone has their own favorite, but try these and I think you’ll change your mind.  Deb from Smitten Kitchen said that these are perfect and I agree.  The lemon flavor comes through perfectly and there is a blueberry in every bite.  The top is crispy and the inside is moist.  I think the ingredient that makes these perfect is the full fat yogurt or sour cream.  Don’t mess up the recipe by using low-fat, it’s just not worth it.  Please try these!!  Even if they don’t end up being your favorite, I can guarantee you’ll still like them.

What’s YOUR favorite blueberry muffin recipe?

 Mix the wet ingredients.

 Add dry ingredients.

 Fold in blueberries.

 Transfer to cups.

 Baked.

Perfect Blueberry Muffins
From: Smitten Kitchen

Makes 9 to 10 standard muffins
5 tablespoons (2 1/2 ounces or 71 grams) unsalted butter , softened
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces or 100 grams) sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt (full fat)
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 1/2 cups (6 3/4 ounces or 191 grams) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon (7 grams or 1/4 ounce) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) baking soda
1/4 teaspoon (2 grams) salt
3/4 cup (3 3/4 ounces or 105 grams) blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, don’t bother defrosting)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a muffin tin with 10 paper liners or spray each cup with a nonstick spray. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well, then yogurt and zest. Put flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a sifter and sift half of dry ingredients over batter. Mix until combined. Sift remaining dry ingredients into batter and mix just until the flour disappears. Gently fold in your blueberries. The dough will be quite thick (and even thicker, if you used a full-fat Greek-style yogurt), closer to a cookie dough, which is why an ice cream scoop is a great tool to fill your muffin cups. You’re looking for them to be about 3/4 full, nothing more, so you might only need 9 instead of 10 cups. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until tops are golden and a tester inserted into the center of muffins comes out clean. Let cool on rack (if you can), or you know, serve with a generous pat of butter.

Blueberry Muffins

I miss summer.

I like winter okay, but it snowed already and Christmas is over, so there is no more need for cold weather.  I like the concept of winter and I still get excited for it to come every year, but once it’s here, I’m ready for it to go away.

For some reason, these muffins just made me miss summer more.  I think it was the combination of the lemon and blueberry aroma that was consuming the kitchen.  I knew these muffins were going to be good just by smelling them. 

It’s hard to find a perfect blueberry muffin recipe and since it’s such a common one, I think everyone has their own favorite, but try these and I think you’ll change your mind.  Deb from Smitten Kitchen said that these are perfect and I agree.  The lemon flavor comes through perfectly and there is a blueberry in every bite.  The top is crispy and the inside is moist.  I think the ingredient that makes these perfect is the full fat yogurt or sour cream.  Don’t mess up the recipe by using low-fat, it’s just not worth it.  Please try these!!  Even if they don’t end up being your favorite, I can guarantee you’ll still like them.

What’s YOUR favorite blueberry muffin recipe?

 Mix the wet ingredients.

 Add dry ingredients.

 Fold in blueberries.

 Transfer to cups.

 Baked.

Perfect Blueberry Muffins
From: Smitten Kitchen

Makes 9 to 10 standard muffins
5 tablespoons (2 1/2 ounces or 71 grams) unsalted butter , softened
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces or 100 grams) sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt (full fat)
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 1/2 cups (6 3/4 ounces or 191 grams) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon (7 grams or 1/4 ounce) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) baking soda
1/4 teaspoon (2 grams) salt
3/4 cup (3 3/4 ounces or 105 grams) blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, don’t bother defrosting)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a muffin tin with 10 paper liners or spray each cup with a nonstick spray. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well, then yogurt and zest. Put flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a sifter and sift half of dry ingredients over batter. Mix until combined. Sift remaining dry ingredients into batter and mix just until the flour disappears. Gently fold in your blueberries. The dough will be quite thick (and even thicker, if you used a full-fat Greek-style yogurt), closer to a cookie dough, which is why an ice cream scoop is a great tool to fill your muffin cups. You’re looking for them to be about 3/4 full, nothing more, so you might only need 9 instead of 10 cups. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until tops are golden and a tester inserted into the center of muffins comes out clean. Let cool on rack (if you can), or you know, serve with a generous pat of butter.

Old Settler’s Baked Beans and Cornbread Muffins

So, this afternoon, after Kellen and I ate lunch (at 3 because it’s Christmas break and we can wake up whenever we want… like 2) we were already thinking about what we wanted to make for dinner, since it was only a couple of hours away.

We browsed some recipe sites and decided we wanted cornbread for sure.  And then we couldn’t think of anything else that goes with cornbread except chili.  So we were going to eat chili until I remembered that his mom makes these really, really delicious baked beans and baked beans definitely go with cornrbead.  But these aren’t just baked beans, they’re more like baked beans on steroids.  They’re sweet, but salty, and filling and they’ve got bacon in them and you can’t go wrong with bacon.

He got the recipe sent to us and our day has been eventful ever since then.  I don’t know if any of you guys have tried a Jillian Michaels DVD, but she’s evil.  I got one of her workout DVDs in one of my efforts to try and stay in shape, but I only tried it 3 or 4 times and never made it the entire way through, or even half-way through.  She’s mean.  So I told Kellen about it and the two of us, being as competitive as we are, bet that we could make it farther than the other.  Oh. My. Gosh.  We made it the entire 40 minutes and didn’t even die…it was a miracle.  I would have quit halfway through if he hadn’t kept going.  I just can’t bring myself to lose. 🙂  But anyway, we did it, and it was really hard… so afterward we were very ready to eat.

We went to Walmart and got everything we needed, which is always an adventure in itself.  Finally, we came home and cooked.  It was fun and the dinner turned out really well, thanks to Kellen’s mom!  We were very proud of ourselves.  Also, the cornbread muffins were delicious.  We used a recipe with real corn in it and they were perfectly crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside.  Delicious!

P.S. Tomorrow is my birthday and I asked for a box mix cake with store bought rainbow chip frosting…what is wrong with me!?  I may or may not have just written the p.s. just to let everyone know it’s my birthday.  Haha! 🙂

P.P.S. We made enough of this dish to feed the Duggar’s, so you made need to cut the recipes down to your liking.

Janie’s Baked Beans and Cornbread Muffins

Janie Smith

 

Ingredients:

1 lb. bacon, cut into small pieces
1 small onion, chopped
1 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. barbecue sauce
2 Tbsp. molasses
1 t. salt
2 16 oz. cans of kidney beans
2 31 oz. cans of Campbell’s Pork and Beans
1 lb. ground beef
1 c. white sugar
1/4 c. ketchup
1 Tbsp. mustard
1/2 tsp. chili powder (opt.)
Dash of pepper
4 16 oz. cans of butter beans

Method:
1.  Partly brown bacon and hamburger meat.  Add in onions.

2.  Once completely browned and onions are completely sauted, drain grease. 

3.  In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, spices, and sauces.

4.  In a large pot on the stove, add in all ingredients.

5.  Stir gently over medium to high heat to dissolve sugars. Heat until bubbly and beans are tender. Stir occasionally. Makes a bunch!

 Partly brown the meats.

 Chop the onions.

 Add onions into meat mixture.

 Make the sauce.

 Stir occasionally.

 Sooo goood!

Cornbread Muffins
Adapted from: AllRecipes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
•  3/4 cup milk
• 3/4 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease or line 12 muffin cups.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, honey, eggs and salt. Mix in flour, cornmeal and baking powder; blend thoroughly. Stir in milk and corn. Pour or spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

 First, beat the first wet ingredients.  Then add flour and cornmeal. 

 Thoroughly mix it. Then add the milk and corn.

 Pour batter into muffin pan.

 Bake until golden and cracking.

 I went ahead and made a loaf of bread, too.  It was all super delicious.

Old Settler’s Baked Beans and Cornbread Muffins

So, this afternoon, after Kellen and I ate lunch (at 3 because it’s Christmas break and we can wake up whenever we want… like 2) we were already thinking about what we wanted to make for dinner, since it was only a couple of hours away.

We browsed some recipe sites and decided we wanted cornbread for sure.  And then we couldn’t think of anything else that goes with cornbread except chili.  So we were going to eat chili until I remembered that his mom makes these really, really delicious baked beans and baked beans definitely go with cornrbead.  But these aren’t just baked beans, they’re more like baked beans on steroids.  They’re sweet, but salty, and filling and they’ve got bacon in them and you can’t go wrong with bacon.

He got the recipe sent to us and our day has been eventful ever since then.  I don’t know if any of you guys have tried a Jillian Michaels DVD, but she’s evil.  I got one of her workout DVDs in one of my efforts to try and stay in shape, but I only tried it 3 or 4 times and never made it the entire way through, or even half-way through.  She’s mean.  So I told Kellen about it and the two of us, being as competitive as we are, bet that we could make it farther than the other.  Oh. My. Gosh.  We made it the entire 40 minutes and didn’t even die…it was a miracle.  I would have quit halfway through if he hadn’t kept going.  I just can’t bring myself to lose. 🙂  But anyway, we did it, and it was really hard… so afterward we were very ready to eat.

We went to Walmart and got everything we needed, which is always an adventure in itself.  Finally, we came home and cooked.  It was fun and the dinner turned out really well, thanks to Kellen’s mom!  We were very proud of ourselves.  Also, the cornbread muffins were delicious.  We used a recipe with real corn in it and they were perfectly crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside.  Delicious!

P.S. Tomorrow is my birthday and I asked for a box mix cake with store bought rainbow chip frosting…what is wrong with me!?  I may or may not have just written the p.s. just to let everyone know it’s my birthday.  Haha! 🙂

P.P.S. We made enough of this dish to feed the Duggar’s, so you made need to cut the recipes down to your liking.

Janie’s Baked Beans and Cornbread Muffins

Janie Smith

 

Ingredients:

1 lb. bacon, cut into small pieces
1 small onion, chopped
1 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. barbecue sauce
2 Tbsp. molasses
1 t. salt
2 16 oz. cans of kidney beans
2 31 oz. cans of Campbell’s Pork and Beans
1 lb. ground beef
1 c. white sugar
1/4 c. ketchup
1 Tbsp. mustard
1/2 tsp. chili powder (opt.)
Dash of pepper
4 16 oz. cans of butter beans

Method:
1.  Partly brown bacon and hamburger meat.  Add in onions.

2.  Once completely browned and onions are completely sauted, drain grease. 

3.  In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, spices, and sauces.

4.  In a large pot on the stove, add in all ingredients.

5.  Stir gently over medium to high heat to dissolve sugars. Heat until bubbly and beans are tender. Stir occasionally. Makes a bunch!

 Partly brown the meats.

 Chop the onions.

 Add onions into meat mixture.

 Make the sauce.

 Stir occasionally.

 Sooo goood!

Cornbread Muffins
Adapted from: AllRecipes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
•  3/4 cup milk
• 3/4 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease or line 12 muffin cups.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, honey, eggs and salt. Mix in flour, cornmeal and baking powder; blend thoroughly. Stir in milk and corn. Pour or spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

 First, beat the first wet ingredients.  Then add flour and cornmeal. 

 Thoroughly mix it. Then add the milk and corn.

 Pour batter into muffin pan.

 Bake until golden and cracking.

 I went ahead and made a loaf of bread, too.  It was all super delicious.

Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin Facts:
(pumpkin patch)

1. A pumpkin is really a squash.
2. Pumpkins contain potassium and Vitamin A.
3. Pumpkin flowers are edible.
4. The largest pumpkin pie ever made was over five feet in diameter and weighed over 350 pounds. It used 80 pounds of cooked pumpkin, 36 pounds of sugar, 12 dozen eggs and took six hours to bake.
5. In early colonial times, pumpkins were used as an ingredient for the crust of pies, not the filling.
6. Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites.
7. The largest pumpkin ever grown weighed 1,140 pounds.
8. The Connecticut field variety is the traditional American pumpkin.
9. Pumpkins are 90 percent water.
10. Eighty percent of the pumpkin supply in the United States is available in October.
11. Native Americans flattened strips of pumpkins, dried them and made mats.
12. Native Americans called pumpkins “isqoutm squash.” (Don’t ask me how to pronounce this.)
13. Native Americans used pumpkin seeds for food and medicine.
14. It tastes really, really good in muffin form!!

Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkins
Adapted from:  Smitten Kitchen and Annie’s Eats


Muffins:  
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin (not the whole can!)
1/3 cup vegetable oil*
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream Cheese Filling:

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Streusel:

1/4 cup sugar

1/8 cup and 1 tsp. flour

2 tbsp. butter, cubed

3/4  tsp. cinnamon

Combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and whip until smooth.  Form into a log on plastic wrap or foil, making sure that the diameter is small enough to fit into the well of a muffin pan.  Wrap the log up tightly and freeze until slightly hardened, 1-2 hours. (I only left mine in for 20 minutes.  I recommend waiting just for the presentation of the muffin.  Taste-wise, it’s not affected.) 

Put oven in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Put liners in muffin cups. (I ran out 😦 )

Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth.

 

Then whisk in flour and baking powder until just combined.

To make the streusel topping, combine all ingredients in a small bowl.  Mix together with a pastry blender or two forks until crumbly.

 
Fill each muffin well halfway with batter. 

Remove the cream cheese log from the freezer and slice into 12 equal slices.  Place a slice in each muffin well.  (Or plop, if you didn’t freeze it all the way) Also, I added some butterscotch chips into some of mine, instead of using cream cheese for all of them.  It was also very delicious!

Divide the remaining muffin batter evenly among the muffin cups, on top of the cream cheese.  Sprinkle the streusel topping over the top of the batter.   

 
Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Let cool completely before serving.

Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin Facts:
(pumpkin patch)

1. A pumpkin is really a squash.
2. Pumpkins contain potassium and Vitamin A.
3. Pumpkin flowers are edible.
4. The largest pumpkin pie ever made was over five feet in diameter and weighed over 350 pounds. It used 80 pounds of cooked pumpkin, 36 pounds of sugar, 12 dozen eggs and took six hours to bake.
5. In early colonial times, pumpkins were used as an ingredient for the crust of pies, not the filling.
6. Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites.
7. The largest pumpkin ever grown weighed 1,140 pounds.
8. The Connecticut field variety is the traditional American pumpkin.
9. Pumpkins are 90 percent water.
10. Eighty percent of the pumpkin supply in the United States is available in October.
11. Native Americans flattened strips of pumpkins, dried them and made mats.
12. Native Americans called pumpkins “isqoutm squash.” (Don’t ask me how to pronounce this.)
13. Native Americans used pumpkin seeds for food and medicine.
14. It tastes really, really good in muffin form!!

Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkins
Adapted from:  Smitten Kitchen and Annie’s Eats


Muffins:  
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin (not the whole can!)
1/3 cup vegetable oil*
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream Cheese Filling:

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Streusel:

1/4 cup sugar

1/8 cup and 1 tsp. flour

2 tbsp. butter, cubed

3/4  tsp. cinnamon

Combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and whip until smooth.  Form into a log on plastic wrap or foil, making sure that the diameter is small enough to fit into the well of a muffin pan.  Wrap the log up tightly and freeze until slightly hardened, 1-2 hours. (I only left mine in for 20 minutes.  I recommend waiting just for the presentation of the muffin.  Taste-wise, it’s not affected.) 

Put oven in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Put liners in muffin cups. (I ran out 😦 )

Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth.

 

Then whisk in flour and baking powder until just combined.

To make the streusel topping, combine all ingredients in a small bowl.  Mix together with a pastry blender or two forks until crumbly.

 
Fill each muffin well halfway with batter. 

Remove the cream cheese log from the freezer and slice into 12 equal slices.  Place a slice in each muffin well.  (Or plop, if you didn’t freeze it all the way) Also, I added some butterscotch chips into some of mine, instead of using cream cheese for all of them.  It was also very delicious!

Divide the remaining muffin batter evenly among the muffin cups, on top of the cream cheese.  Sprinkle the streusel topping over the top of the batter.   

 
Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Let cool completely before serving.