Pumpkin Muffins With Spiced Cream Cheese Filling

Total Time: 50 mins Preparation Time: 25 mins Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• 2 cups sifted whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsulfured molasses
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 large eggs, lightly whisked
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
• 1/4 cup raw unsalted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• 3 ounces neufchatel cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pumpkin pie spice

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350 degrees f. lightly coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper cups.
• 2 in a small bowl, stir together the cream cheese, evaporated cane juice, and 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice until well mixed. set aside.
• 3 in a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through nutmeg).
• 4 in a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, molasses, oil, and eggs until combined. whisk in the pumpkin, vanilla, and buttermilk.
• 5 add dry ingredients into wet and stir just until fully moistened.
• 6 spoon batter into prepared muffin tin, filling each cup a little less than half way full; smooth batter with back of a spoon to even out. spoon about 1 heaping tsp of the cream cheese mixture into the center of each cup. top with remaining batter. each cup will be almost completely full. smooth tops with back of a spoon.
• 7 sprinkle each filled muffin cup with a few pepitas.
• 8 bake muffins for 20-23 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean (a bit of cream cheese clinging to the toothpick is fine, but there shouldn’t be any raw batter).
• 9 let the muffins cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes. transfer muffins to a wire rack and let cool completely.