Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins

I wish that you could smell these muffins through the picture. It smells just like Fall. Oh how I wish it was fall. I just got impatient, sitting around in these hot temps, waiting for Fall so I could cook and bake with pumpkin. So when I went to my  mom's house which is in a much cooler climate than mine, I decided to whip these up for her. The house smelled heavenly and oh  my goodness, these taste amazing! Bring on Fall, I'm ready for pumpkin ANYTHING! In the meantime, I might just keep trying to pretend that it's not 100° outside and the oven would not be in competition with the air conditioning, and make these a dozen more times!

Recipe Source: http://sugarcooking.blogspot.com/2010/10/pumpkin-cheesecake-muffins.html

For the filling:

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1 Tbsp flour
• 1 cup powdered sugar

For the muffins:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/2 Tbsp. plus 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp vegetable oil

For the topping:

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. flour
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp cold butter, cut into very small pieces

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°

1. To prepare the filling, combine all the filling ingredients and mix well until blended and smooth. Set aside.
2. To make the muffins, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated. Place paper liners into your muffin pan.
3. To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.
4. To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full with batter. Add about 1 Tbsp of filling on top. Sprinkle with topping. Bake 18-20 minutes.