Saturday, October 29, 2011

Pumpkin, Cream Cheese and San Francisco

Here are the muffins I promised you a few days ago. I tried to get them up by Friday but it's hard blogging with a squirmy baby in your arms and typing with one hand while trying to balance a laptop on the armrest of the recliner. :-) But as they say, "better late than never" right? These muffins were fantastic so I'm glad to be sharing them with you today. Before I go any further, here's a picture of Hayden. After all, I know that's why you're really all here and I'd hate to make you scroll all the way down to the end of this post to see him. ha!

Last November I went to The Foodbuzz Fest in San Francisco. It was so much fun and it's coming up again next weekend. Unfortunately and fortunately I can't go this year because I'm a new mom and my baby needs me. Oh, what a great excuse to have! Once the fest was over, Mr. H joined me in SF for a couple days of rest and relaxation. While shopping around Union Square and the surrounding area we spotted a cupcakery by the name of Cako (pronounced Cake-O) and had to go in. Mr. H got a chocolate cupcake with coffee buttercream and I got their seasonal cupcake- pumpkin cream cheese with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting. That was truly one of the best cupcakes I've ever had.

I was hoping to be able to attend Foodbuzz 2011, just so I could go back to this bakery (amongst other destinations). I know that sounds ridiculous but it's true. It was a memorable cupcake. A couple weeks ago when I was dreaming about these cupcakes, I got online to browse some of my favorite blogs and found that Cassie of Cassie Craves had just posted Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins with a cinnamony streusel topping. Hello, come to momma! I then remembered that I bookmarked this exact recipe last year and never got around to making them. I was not going to let another year go by without making them.

I made these muffins right away and took them to my doctors office at my 6 week checkup. I gave away 22 muffins and kept 2 for Mr. H and myself. He didn't want his so I gladly ate it. I only wish that I kept more of them because they were delicious. They aren't quite as rich and sinful as the Cako cupcake I had in San Francisco last Fall, but they were moist, tender, full of spice and had a substantial amount of cream cheese baked right into the center of them. The topping was slightly crunchy and loaded with cinnamon. There are some great textures going on in this muffin and since they're called muffins and not cupcakes you can eat them for breakfast and not feel the least bit guilty. For those of you heading to San Francisco next week I hope you'll head to Cako and eat a cupcake for me. For all you others, make these muffins!

If you're looking to make a loaf instead, this Cream Cheese Rippled Pumpkin Bread is my favorite!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins adapted from Cassie Craves and Annie’s Eats

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For The Filling:

  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For The Muffins:

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
  • 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1- 15 oz. can pumpkin puree
  • 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

For The Topping:

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 5 tablespoons flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

For The Filling: Combine the cream cheese, vanilla, and powdered sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth.

Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil. Transfer to the freezer and chill until at least slightly firm, at least 2 hours. (I made this a couple days in advance and left it in the fridge til I was ready for it.)

For The Muffins: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two muffin pans with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend.

In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

For The Topping: Combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

Assembly: Fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons).

Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces. Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well.

Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely. Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving.

Makes 24-26 muffins

If you're looking for Halloween recipes, give one of these a try:

Happy Halloween!

26 comments:

Coleens Recipes said...

These look absolutely delicious, almost as cute as Hayden (he is so precious) he is such a beautiful baby.

Julie @ Willow Bird Baking said...

These look amazing, and OH is H just the sweetest little thing!!!

I think Cako needs to be on my SF 'to do' list. We're gonna miss you this year!

Jean said...

Why, of course, we wanted to see that baby! My goodness he is changing fast. He is so cute! Those cupcakes look delish and I bet your doc will be glad to see you every time!

Becki's Whole Life said...

Hayden is adorable..his little lips are so cute! These look delish, I love the cream cheese center and the streusel topping.

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Looks like these were definitely worth the wait Monica like all good things in life!

Meals by Misty said...

There is nothing more scrumptious that a cupcake/muffin that has a surprise in the middle! Makes my tummy rumble and my mouth water! I follow your blog when I get the chance. I had a baby too and its amazing how priorities change! Happy Sunday!

Unknown said...

Hayden looks so cute. He's all sleepy and yawning it looks like :3 And these muffins look so good. I'm interesting in the baked in cream cheese filling. Happy (almost) Halloween!

Unknown said...

These look wonderful! And you have a beautiful baby boy =)

oneordinaryday said...

Total yumminess - Hayden AND the muffins!

Heather S-G said...

Yum, these sound awesome...love those layers. And love that handsome guy :D

Foodiewife said...

I, for one, will miss not having my roommate with me, this year. I remember that fabulous bakery we found, and I shared my chocolate cupcake with Italian Meringue with you. Now, that's love! I am going to Foodbuzz, and I'm going to try and get your those fabulous Chiccharones (whatever they were called...) for you. These cupcakes, needless to say, look amazing. Maybe next year, you can come. You know you are always welcome.

danellesdish said...

These look so good and Hayden is a doll!

Avril said...

Gorgeous baby - thank you for putting him first so I didn't have to scroll all the way down your post to see if you had a pic of him posted along with your recipe - and gorgeous muffins too! The doc's and nurses must have LOVED seeing you come in with a trayful of those muffins :-)

Cassie said...

Okay, Hayden is gorgeous. Like, "one of the most beautiful babies I've ever seen" gorgeous. What a little love. I'm so happy for you, Monica!

I loved these muffins too and I really need to make another batch. Thanks for the shout-out! :)

Jane said...

Now those are some glorious looking muffins, Monica! How you found ANY time to post this is amazing in and of itself--you are to be doubly congratulated. I can only imagine what an extraordinary autumn this is for you and your family, what with the newest arrival. God bless you for having such faith and strength through all of the obstacles. Hayden is an extremely fortunate, and adorable, baby boy. :)

Unknown said...

These look freaking awesome!! Thanks for sharing!

Jan said...

This all looks great and it will spur me to do some things I should have done for the family. Off to the kitchen.

Deborah said...

Hayden gets more beautiful every time you post a pic. Thank you for sharing your baby boy with us. Have a great day.

Sue said...

I hit "save to favorites" as soon as I saw the picture. We love muffins and really love pumpkin this time of year. I'll be making these very soon. The baby is just perfect. I still get a rush of joy for you!

I had to laugh because we brought home a new 4-legged baby on Saturday (my birthday). I too am trying to write (and everything else) with one hand. I'm also awake most of the night. If you get a minute, run by yesterday's post for pictures!

Healthy and Homemade said...

I've been wanting to make muffins just like this, YUM! Your baby boy is growing so much, he's so precious. Do you think I can sub an equal amount of almond flour and flax meal to replace the APF? =D

Anonymous said...

Beautiful and beautiful and beautiful blog! I love the recipes I can't wait to try them and the picutures are divine! :)

Brooke said...

Owh they look divine!!

And loving that gorgeous little face and those cute baby hands!!

Abby said...

Oh, he's so sweet. Such sweet little lips! And those muffins? Definitely an excuse to eat dessert for breakfast!

Mike said...

I stumbled on this site by accident. Glad I did. I like the sound of pumpkin cream cheese.

Melody said...

I love your site! I found it through Pinterest. I couldn't wait to make the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins. I don't know what i did wrong but I created a big mess! They don't look pretty like yours! The cream cheese rose to the top and ran all over the side of the cup. Nothing wrong with the way they taste though! YUMMY. I guess I'll have to eat all of them since they are not pretty enough to give away! Oh well!....

Kelley's 3's said...

I made these using e spice cake mix idea from your previous pumpkin muffin post, I think the year before. They were awesome and the gals at work ate them all!

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