The perfect recipe to kick-off pumpkin season and fall, these Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins feature a sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting stuffed inside a pumpkin spice muffin and topped with a crunchy streusel topping!
At the beginning of August King Arthur Flour launched their monthly bakealong challenge. The idea of the challenge is simple: a new recipe is revealed at the beginning of every month, bakers recreate it at home, and share the photos (process, final product, etc.) using #bakealong.
I’m participating in the bakealong challenge, which began with last month’s challenge, Pane Bianco. From that recipe, I was inspired to create a Mediterranean variation. For the month of September, the recipe chosen were Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins, the perfect recipe to kick-off the beginning of pumpkin season and Fall!
Stuffed in these Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins is a sweet and tangy cream cheese filling, a wonderful surprise when you first bite into it! The pumpkin muffins have the perfect ratio of real pumpkin flavor and seasonal spices that will instantly get you in the mood for the holiday season. And, if that weren’t enough, it’s all topped with a crunchy streusel topping.
After baking up a batch and being so pleased with the results, my mind wandered a little bit, seeking other ways to enjoy these Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins. The result? I ended up turning them into Baked Inside-Out Pumpkin Doughnuts! Same cream cheese filling, same batter, same streusel topping. Just baked in a doughnut pan instead of a muffin pan. With the popularity of gourmet doughnuts on the rise, I think these Baked Inside-Out Pumpkin Doughnuts will sure to impress your friends this season!
Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
Streusel
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- ¼ cup old-fashioned rolled oats or quick oats
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
Filling
- 1 cup cream cheese, brick style, softened at room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Muffins
- 1 cup pure pumpkin puree
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ¼ cup honey
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice*
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅓ cup milk, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a 12-cup standard muffin pan.
- Make the streusel by whisking together the flour, sugar, oats, and salt. Cut in the butter using a fork or pastry cutter. Set aside.
- Make the filling by beating together all the ingredients until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, sugar, oil, honey, salt, spices, baking powder, soda, and milk.
- Add the flour all at once and whisk just until combined
- Drop 2 tablespoons of batter into the prepared muffin cups. If needed, use the back of a spoon to spread the batter to cover the bottom. Top with 1 tablespoon of filling, followed by an additional 2 tablespoons of batter. Sprinkle with streusel.
- Bake for 18 - 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the side of the muffin comes out clean.
- Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
Storage
Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Inside-Out Pumpkin Doughtnuts
Follow steps 1-5 (skip lining the muffin pan). Pipe the batter into a greased 6-cavity doughnut pan until ½ full. Pipe in a thin strip of the filling, followed with the batter until full. Sprinkle the streusel over the douhgnuts. Bake for 18 minutes – 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the side of the muffin comes out clean.
Adapted from King Arthur Flour
Note: This page contains affiliate links that help make The PKP Way possible. Should you choose to purchase anything via those links, I will receive a small commission paid by Amazon, not you.
