PUMPKIN MUFFINS WITH CREAM CHEESE ICING – After being in the doldrums for a week or so with no inspiration to cook or bake, I woke up earlier this week feeling like my old self again with a tremendous urge to bake pumpkin muffins. A little odd because it’s been quite some time since I baked a batch of muffins.
I felt out of practice and my muffins could be prettier. More muffin baking is clearly needed. . . Not a problem seeing how fast they disappeared.
I don’t think practice could make them anymore delicious though! That I have covered.
They’re moist, tender and dense. They bake up tall and domed with pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spices shining through in every bite.
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What would a pumpkin muffin be without a little cream cheese icing to finish it off? Terribly lonely. That’s what.
You can make the icing thin – like a glaze or thick like icing and drizzle it over the tops or dunk them top-side right into it. A cinnamon sugar coating is perfectly acceptable too.
Thank you pumpkin season. I owe my muffin comeback all to you.
PUMPKIN MUFFINS WITH CREAM CHEESE ICING
Ingredients
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 + ½ cups sugar
- 1 + ½ cups canned pumpkin
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon plus heaping ¼ teaspoon each ground nutmeg and ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 + ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 + ¾ cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour like King Arthur
- Icing:
- 2 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon butter at toom temperature
- 1 - 4 teaspoons milk
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- dash of vanilla
- ¾ cup confectioners' sugar
- a handful or two of sliced almonds chopped walnuts or pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan with butter and 3 cups of a second muffin pan if you have one - if not you can bake them in 2 batches.
- In a large mixing bowl on medium speed beat the oil, eggs, sugar, pumpkin, spices, salt, and baking powder together until smooth about 2 minutes.
- Stir in the flour by hand just until smooth - don't overmix or the muffins can become rubbery.
- Fill the muffin wells about ¾ full. Bake 22 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.
- Cool on a wire rack 15 minutes or so then turn out and cool completely.
- In a medium mixing bowl beat the cream cheese and butter together on medium speed 2 minutes.
- Beat in 1 teaspoon milk, the cinnamon and vanilla.
- Beat in the confectioners' sugar with a teaspoon of milk at a time until it reaches the right consistency. You can make it thin and drizzle or dunk the tops or on the thicker side like an icing. You can also skip the icing and do a cinnamon sugar coating.
- Ice the muffins and sprinkle a few nuts on top. Store tightly covered in a cool, dry place up to 4 days.