Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

From ChatGPT: Embrace the essence of autumn with these Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins. These heavenly morsels are a celebration of the season's bounty, blending the earthy warmth of pumpkin with the creamy decadence of cream cheese. Baking a batch of these aromatic muffins fills your home with a symphony of autumnal scents, inviting loved ones to gather around and savor the flavors of fall. With a tender crumb and a luscious core of cream cheese, these muffins are the epitome of comfort and indulgence.

Tips

• There’s a decent amount of extra batter because I you’re going to use the whole can of pumpkin puree (instead of having a 1/4 filled can sitting in your refrigerator). You can bake off the remaining batter as a second batch set of muffins or in greased/floured ramekins.

• You can skip the cream cheese core if you wish, the recipe won’t change.

12 muffins, plus extra batter

Ingredients

For the cream cheese core:

• 6 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature (170g)

• 3 tbsp granulated sugar (35g)

• Pinch of kosher salt

For the muffins:

• 1 stick unsalted butter (113g)

• 1 tbsp. pumpkin spice (or just cinnamon)

• 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree (425g)

• 3 large eggs (150g)

• 1 cup light brown sugar (200g)

• ⅔ cup maple syrup (425g)

• 1 cup all-purpose flour (140g)

• 1 cup whole-wheat flour (140g) (or substitute another 1 cup all-purpose flour)

• 2 tsp. baking powder

• 1 tsp. baking soda

• 1 tsp. kosher salt

• Rolled oats for garnish (optional)

Special Equipment Needed

• 12-cup muffin pan

Directions

1. Make the cream cheese core: In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese, the granulated sugar, and salt until smooth. Set in the refrigerator while you prepare the rest of the batter.

2. Make the muffin batter:

   • Preheat oven to 350F with a rack set in the center. Grease and flour your muffin pan or line with muffin liners.

   • In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat stirring occasionally until the butter begins to brown and smells nutty. Remove from heat and stir in pumpkin spice. Set aside to cool.

   • In a large bowl, add the pumpkin puree, eggs, light brown sugar, and maple syrup. Whisk until smooth. Sprinkle over the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour(s). Whisk in until just combined. Whisk in the cooled browned butter until homogenous.

   • Pour batter into muffin pan nearly to the top (you’ll have a decent amount of extra batter, see “Tips” section above). Dollop heaping teaspoons of cream cheese mixture into the center of each muffin. Sprinkle the perimeters with rolled oats.

   • Bake for 23-26 minutes, until the muffins have risen and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out with no crumbs. Let cool and then remove muffins. Muffins will last a room temperature for 4 days.