Pumpkin Cream Cheese Crumb Cake Muffins

Muffins are a common breakfast food for my kids. For their breakfast, I, therefore, bake muffins once or twice every several weeks. My muffins, though, are an upgrade over the generally sweet ones found in the bakery. I don't usually bake a lot of it to freeze, although some people do. In contrast to cupcakes, muffins are simple to make and bake.

I made muffins a day in advance; they often last for two to three days. During the morning rush on school weekdays, having those muffins prepared and ready to pop into the toaster oven two at a time for kids’ breakfast makes a significant difference.

 

My children love pumpkin cream cheese muffins. One of these won't be enough for them to consume. They are utterly addicted. They taste like a cross between pumpkin coffee cake and pumpkin cheesecake since they are moist and filled with cream cheese. Crunchy brown sugar cinnamon streusel topping is placed on top of them. It is hard to resist.

Simple materials that you probably already have on hand are all you need to prepare this simple muffin recipe. Using two different bowls is part of the simple process. All the dry ingredients are combined in one bowl, and all the wet components are combined in the other bowl. The wet is added to the dry and mixed. That was so simple! To avoid the production of gluten, do not overmix the ingredients.

PUMPKIN PIE SPICE SUBSTITUTION

Since pumpkin pie spice is composed mostly of cinnamon. If cinnamon is all that you have, just use that!

 

INGREDIENTS

Crumb Topping

65g of packed brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

60g unsalted butter, melted

85g all-purpose flour or plain flour

 

Cream Cheese Filling

165g cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1 egg yolk

½ tsp pure vanilla extract

3 tbsp granulated/white sugar

 

Pumpkin muffins

220g all-purpose flour or plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

100g packed dark brown sugar

100g granulated/ white sugar

2 large eggs

200g fresh pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin puree

120ml vegetable oil

80ml milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

 

METHODS

1. Preheat your oven to 200˚C. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners or butter or spray with a nonstick spray. But I am using a 56mm x 41mm aluminium foil cup, the size is bigger than a muffin pan, so I can make 10 big-size muffins.

2. Crumb-topping:

Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter in a small bowl. Add the flour and use a fork to gently mix until the crumbs form. Don't over-mix until a smooth paste. Simply stir until crumbly. Set aside for later use. 

3. Cream cheese filling:

Beat the cream cheese in a mixing bowl with a hand mixer on medium-high speed until smooth. Beat in the egg yolk, vanilla extract, and sugar until creamy and smooth. Keep in the fridge while you make the pumpkin batter. (DO NOT OVER-MIX THE CREAM CHEESE, IT WILL TURN TOO THIN AND DISSOLVE INTO THE BATTER WHEN IT BAKES)

4. Pumpkin batter:

a) Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl. Set aside.

b) Combine the milk, vanilla extract, eggs, pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in a medium size bowl.

c) With a rubber spatula or a whisk, lightly fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until combined and the batter is thick and chunky. (The important thing is not to over-mix the batter. You do not want it smooth. Over-mixing the batter will yield tough)

5. Assembling the muffins:

Fill each muffin cup or aluminium cup with about 2 tablespoons of batter. Put a tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture in the middle of each muffin. Put the remaining batter on top. Each cup should be around 3/4 filled. Top with the crumb mixture. 

Bake the crumb cake muffins for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean with just a few crumbs.