Muffin Mania

This was a week of muffins.

Not sure if it was a product of people just sharing awesome fall recipes, me being pregnant, Chase being in the mood to bake, and rainy Ohio weather, one, or all of these things. But it seemed like the thing to do.

Monday we made Pumpkin Spice Muffins with a cream cheese filling. These were made on Monday because I knew that I could take them to work on Tuesday and prevent myself from eating the entire batch. They were a real hit at work. 15 muffins were gone within 2 hours. There were only 9 of us in the office, and I didn't have one...

Pumpkin Spice Muffins
For the muffins:
15 oz. canned pumpkin
1 box spice cake mix
Water as called for by box mix

Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. brown sugar

Streusel:
1/3 c. flour
1/4 (ish) c. sugar
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
3 Tbsp. melted butter
3 Tbsp. chopped pecans (which I omitted)

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the cream cheese, vanilla, and brown sugar. Stir until well-combined and smooth.

In a small bowl, stir together the streusel ingredients with a fork until it is crumbly.

Combine the cake mix (you can also use yellow cake mix), water as called for on the box, and the pumpkin.

Fill muffin tins halfway with batter, then spoon about a teaspoon of cream cheese filling onto each muffin, then another tablespoon or so of batter on top of the cream cheese, then crumble the streusel over the top.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

And today, being NEOEA day, and looking for something fun to do with Chase, we made Apple Pie Muffins. These turned out even tastier than I imagined! I have only had one, hot out of the oven, but I imagine that they are really good cold, too. I'll have to report in later.

Apple Pie Muffins

Streusel:
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour (add slowly and mix until it becomes crumbly, so you may need a bit more or less)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Muffins:
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups diced peeled apples

Streusel: In a small bowl toss together topping sugar, flour, butter and cinnamon until crumbly; set aside.

Muffins: In a large bowl whisk together brown sugar, oil, egg, vanilla, and buttermilk until smooth.

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, soda and salt.

Stir oil mixture and flour mixture together.

Fold in apples, mixing just until combined.

Spoon into greased muffin cups filling 3/4 full.

Sprinkle topping over evenly.

Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and tops spring back.

Yum!