Pumpkin Spice Muffins

It may not be cooler outside here in Alabama yet, but it is fall! You know what that means... pumpkin spice is back everywhere! And I am loving it. I simply can't control myself when I walk past Starbucks on campus, I have to go in and get some form of coffee with pumpkin spice flavor. They've always had these delicious pumpkin muffins with cream cheese filling, so a few years ago I started a trial and error process of trying to recreate them. I put together a few different recipes for the muffin part and the filling part, taking some ideas from this and that recipe until I had something that I loved. I honestly cannot remember where I got the original recipes from, but I do know that these (in my opinion) are waaay better than the muffins at Starbucks! My fiancé, Chad, loves these, and so I made them today as a surprise for him when he comes over tomorrow.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups of sugar
• 2 cups of canned pumpkin puree 
• 1 1/4 cups of vegetable oil
• chopped pecans
• 12 ounces of cream cheese, softened (for filling)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar (for filling)
• 1 egg (for filling)

Preheat your oven to 350º and spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray. I usually use a regular muffin tin, but this time I used the large 6-count tin so they would come out a little bigger. While your oven is preheating, whisk all of the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Then use a mixer to add the pumpkin, eggs, and oil. Fill the muffin tins about 3/4 full, then sprinkle the chopped pecans on top of the batter.

Beat together the softened cream cheese, additional sugar, and one egg until thoroughly blended together and smooth. Using an icing bag with a round tip for filling cupcakes, insert the mixture into the middle of the muffins. I usually insert the icing tip about halfway through, then squeeze a liberal amount into the center. I actually will typically double the cream cheese filling so that I can fill them up a lot. It's my favorite part!

Stick them in the oven and bake them 20-25 minutes. When they are done, take them out and let them cool for about 10-15 minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack.

I only made a half batch this time, but since Chad loves them so much, I know I will be making them again very, very soon.

Happy fall!
Andrea