Lovin' From the Oven

Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Muffins with Pecan Streusel

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I’d like to welcome fall with these pumpkin muffins. It all starts with a can of this:

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which eventually turns into this..
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and CHOMP!:
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Pet names— What’s your take on them? Before I dated my DB, I was the kind of girl that cringed every time I heard “honey,” “sugar,” “sweetie,” “muffin”… I just didn’t understand why people had the need to call each other food names when they had a perfectly functioning birth name.

I never used pet names with previous boys that I dated, and they never used it with me. But all of a sudden, nearly three years ago, a boy answered my phone call with “Hi, honey,” and turned me into the world’s biggest hypocrite. Somehow, I actually enjoyed those words leaving his mouth and three years later, we rarely refer to each other by our actual names anymore. How does that even happen?
Same thing goes for these muffins.. when I was little, I always told myself that I hated pumpkin. One day, I was given a slice of pumpkin pie at my friend’s house and I was sold. How did I hate this for 13 years of my life? Pumpkin was and still is amazing! I guess you just never know until you try.

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All I can say about these muffins is HOLY GUACAMOLE! These are just about the most delicious pumpkin creation that I’ve tried yet. Given, I haven’t made very many pumpkin recipes (see here, here, and here), but when you know, you know. Slightly adapted from Ezra Pound Cake, which was originally adapted from Country Living.

Filling:

  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
Streusel:

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup pecans, chopped finely
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Pumpkin Batter:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 15 oz can of pumpkin
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Cream Cheese Filling: Beat the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla, and blend to combine. Place the mixture in a bowl and put in the freezer until batter is ready.

For the Pecan Streusel: Combine flour, sugar, pecans, butter, and cinnamon. Set aside.

For the Pumpkin Batter:
  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 muffin/cupcake cups. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, lightly beat the pumpkin, eggs, oil, and vanilla.
  3. Mix in the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and spices) into the wet mixture until just combined.
  4. Remove the cream cheese from the freezer.
  5. Evenly divide half of the batter among the muffin cups. Place about a tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture in the center of each cupcake. Fill with the remaining batter, completely covering the cream cheese.
  6. Sprinkle some of the pecan streusel on top of each muffin.
  7. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on wire racks.
p.s. Don’t forget to enter my giveaway if you haven’t already. It ends tomorrow at midnight!

Day 2: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Day 2 of my twelve days of cookies: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies- Even though Thanksgiving is over, I can’t bear the thought of pumpkin being out of season. I mean… Why should it? It’s definitely is an essential ingredient for the holidays. Anything pumpkin always turns out cake-like and fluffy, so be prepared for that light consistency when making these cookies. The combination of chocolate and pumpkin is also divine, so you know that you can’t go wrong. These cookies made A LOT, and I only made 1/4 of the recipe. They pretty much keep their form from how you place the cookie dough on the baking sheet, so using a cookie scoop helps keep all your cookies uniform. This recipe comes from the foodnetwork, courtesy of George Duran.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 2 cups (12-ounce bag) milk chocolate chips, not semisweet
  • Nonstick cooking spray or parchment paper

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper.

Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds. Stir in the chips. Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies off with a spatula and cool them on wire racks.

Pumpkin Bars

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Even with all this pumpkin baking, I still have about 3 cups left in my refrigerator. What is a girl to do with all this pumpkin?

This is my favorite pumpkin recipe that I’ve found so far, and it’s even semi healthy! They are super moist with just the right amount of spice. They always come out perfectly from the oven and I’ve never had a problem baking them.

Pumpkin Bars
– 1 cup flour
– 2/3 cups granulated sugar
– 1 teaspoon baking powder
– 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
– 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
– 1/8 teaspoon salt
– 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
– 1 cup canned pumpkin
– 2 slightly beaten egg whites
– 1/4 cup cooking oil
– 1/4 cup water

Directions
Spray a medium-size baking pan with nonstick coating; set aside.
Combine flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and cloves in a medium bowl. Stir in pumpkin, egg whites, oil, and water until thoroughly combined. Spread batter into prepared pan.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack.
Cut into bars

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