Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

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These pumpkin cream cheese muffins are delicious.   They’re like eating pumpkin cake with built-in cream cheese frosting, but since they’re called “muffins”  you’re allowed to eat them for breakfast.   These muffins are a copycat version of the ones Starbucks carries.  I’ll be honest and say that I’ve never had a pumpkin cream cheese muffin from Starbucks, but I feel pretty confident that these would surpass them in my book.  Here’s why: sweetened cream cheese.

I’m weird when it comes to cream cheese.  Cream cheese is great.  It is, in fact, one of the greatest foods.  However, plain cream cheese must be paired with savory food and sweetened cream cheese must be paired with sweeter items.  There’s no getting around this.  If you don’t believe me, ask my poor husband who came home with a cinnamon raisin bagel with plain cream cheese for me one day.  A no go. In order for cream cheese to be on a bagel, it must be a savory bagel (think sesame, everything, or onion).

This is largely why I’ve avoided this particular Starbucks muffin.  But then I saw Annie’s version, where she sweetened the cream cheese (smart girl, that Annie), and all was right in the world.  I also added a little vanilla to make it even more cream cheese frosting-y.

This made more than 24 muffins for me.  I had enough batter for an extra 5 muffins, but I had already doled out the cream cheese, so I just baked those on their own.  I ended up giving some away and also freezing some of these for fear I would eat 5 per day until they disappeared.  I altered the recipe slightly to accommodate for two things I don’t stock in my kitchen – vegetable oil and pumpkin pie spice.  If you have pumpkin pie spice, you can go back to the original version for the amount.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

16 thoughts on “Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

  1. I do like the sound of these. The cake is dark and rich with spices and I like my pumpkin spicy. Thnx for sharing.

  2. What?! You haven’t had the Starbucks versions yet? I live for them and eggnog lattes every Holiday season, it’s kind of pathetic. I’ve been just adding eggnog to my coffee everyday instead of creamer. Back to these muffins, wow, I am going to have to make these, and probably painfully give them away or else I’d be eating 5 a day as well.

  3. Oooh, those look GOOD! I love the bit of frosting on the inside instead of outside … ever since I started baking cupcakes for the kiddies’ birthdays, for other relatives’ birthdays and friends’ birthdays I have gotten quite sick of thick frosting coating the top of cupcakes!! Might sound nuts, but its the truth: I make the stuff all the time but never even eat it!!

    These on the other hand sound amazing to me and just to see the delicate bit of frosting there in the center makes them all the better!

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