Loaded Pumpkin Muffins
(Makes about 30 muffins)
*3C flour
*2C sugar
*4tsp. pumpkin pie spice
*1tsp. cinnamon
*1tsp. ground cloves
*1tsp. nutmeg
*1tsp. baking soda
*1tsp. salt
*2C pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix, just pumpkin!)
*1 1/4 C vegetable oil
*4 eggs
*Cream cheese or variation *see explanation below*
*chopped nuts (optional)
*The original recipe calls for cream cheese only, however I wanted it to taste more like cheesecake. I bought a tub of the ready-made cheesecake filling to put in them, however taking a block of cream cheese and adding a dash of lemon juice, vanilla and some sugar would have the same basic effect. Or just use the cream cheese!
*form the cream cheese into a log on a piece of tinfoil and freeze, or put filling into a piping bag with a large open tip. Freezing it makes it easy to cut it into pieces and shove them down into your batter, I prefer to pipe the mixture in.
*preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease or line your muffin tin.
*mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately then combine just until mixed through (lumpy is good!)
*fill muffin cups about half full
*pipe or press your cream cheese stuffs down into the batter
*Cover with topping of choice (I used pecans, and strudel (flour, sugar, cinnamon and butter crumbled on top) on top of mine.
*bake for 20-25 minutes. Or until toothpick comes out clean (careful not to stick the toothpick into the cream cheese, it won't ever come out clean from there haha!).
*let sit for 5 minutes in pan before you remove, careful the cheese stays really hot for awhile!
Recipe from Kelli, my culinary-genius-of-a-sister-in-law
