Pumpkin muffins with cream cheese filling

There are many things that I still, even after living overseas for 10 years, miss from home. One thing being the change of seasons. My favourite season is Fall/Autumn. I love it for many reasons, leaves and trees change to beautiful shades of red, orange and yellow; there's a crispness in the air that calls for warm fuzzy socks and big mugs of tea; it is also means, in America, that the holiday season is near. The holidays mean family, fun and food! This is the time when some of my favourite flavours are prominent on most Americans tables, gingerbread, hot apple cider with cinnamon, roast turkey with stuffing and pumpkin pie! So why then is it on the verge of April and I am baking these fall foods? I now live in the southern hemisphere and we are at the end of Summer. Here in Queensland, Australia, it's quite tropical and we really don't ever get a winter like I grew up with in Washington state, but there is definitely a fall and we are nearly there! So I thought I would kick off fall, which starts next week,with one of my favourite recipes, these yummy pumpkin muffins with cream cheese filling and a pecan streusel on top! FUN FACT: Australian's don't eat pumpkin pie and you can not get pumpkin in a can. This suits me fine as one of my goals is to only post recipes on my blog that are made from scratch. (but if you have access to canned pureed pumpkin, by all means use it.)

ENJOY!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins

• 3 cups flour
• 4 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons nutmeg
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 eggs
• 1 ¼ cups vegetable oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 4 ounces (100g) cream cheese, softened
• 4 ounces (100g) marscapone cheese, softened
• ½ cup powdered (icing) sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup flour
• 4 tablespoons cold butter, cubed
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
  

First, prepare the filling: Combine the cream cheese, marscapone cheese, and powdered sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth. Form into a log on plastic wrap or foil, making sure that the diameter is small enough to fit into the well of a muffin pan. Wrap the log up tightly and freeze for at least one hour.
Preheat the oven to 350° F (175°C). Line muffin pans with paper liners for 24 muffins.
To make the muffins: combine the flour, spices, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Whisk together and set aside. In the bowl of your electric mixer, combine the eggs, the oil, the sugar and the pumpkin. Beat until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just the flour is moistened.
To make the streusel topping: combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Mix together with a pastry blender or your fingers until crumbly.
Next: fill each muffin cup halfway with batter. Remove the cheesecake log from the freezer and slice into 24 pieces. Place a slice in each muffin well. Divide the remaining muffin batter evenly among the muffin cups, covering up the cheesecake pieces. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the top of each muffin. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely on racks before serving.