BMWK Thanksgiving Recipe Week: Pumpkin Maple Cheesecake Muffins

Black Friday marathon shopping is a tradition in my family. Sometimes we shop ’til we drop, sometimes we barely get anything. It’s all about the experience. We all live in separate parts of the world and Thanksgiving is a time when we all get together. My aunts and mother are serious and will get us up at the crack of dawn for a good sale. Breakfast is probably the last thing on your mind when getting ready for a day of intense shopping. The truth is, you need to eat especially if you are going to be out for a while.

This pumpkin muffin recipe has all of the fall flavors that I love and makes a great “grab and go” breakfast with your favorite coffee, to pump you up for holiday shopping. Make them a day ahead and just store them in a plastic zip bag and they will be ready to go. Hide them because if the family gets whiff of them, they won’t last until the next morning. Promise! They are also great to make or take to a holiday brunch.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins with Pecan Streusel

Yields 1 dozen

Muffin Batter:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 c. Sugar
2 Eggs
1c. Canned Pumpkin
1tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 1/4c. All Purpose Flour
1tsp. Baking Powder
1tsp. Baking Soda
1tsp. Kosher Salt
½ tsp. Ground Cinnamon
¼ tsp. Ground Nutmeg
¼ tsp. Ground Allspice

Filling:
8oz. Cream Cheese, Softened
1/2c. Sugar
1Tbsp. Flour
2T Maple Syrup
1 egg
1/2tsp. Vanilla Extract

Streusel:
3/4c. All purpose Flour
½ tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1/2tsp. Kosher Salt
1/3c. Brown Sugar
1/4c. Granulated Sugar (White Sugar)
6Tbsp. Unsalted Butter, cold
1c. Chopped Pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In a bowl cream sugar and butter together until mixed well. Mix in eggs, one at a time. Stir in pumpkin and vanilla extract until smooth.

3. In a separate bowl mix flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and all spice.

4. Slowly fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Don’t over mix. Once you can’t see the flour anymore, its combined. Set batter aside. In another bowl mix all filling ingredients together, until smooth. Then set that bowl aside.

5. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the streusel ingredients together, until crumbly. The butter must be cold, and don’t pulse too much and break the nuts all the way down. 2 or 3 pulses should do the trick. **Streusel will make more than enough. It can be stored safely for weeks in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

6. In a prepared muffin pan, pour in half of the pumpkin batter. Fill cups about half of the way. Spoon the cheeescake mixture into each cup. Pour the remaining pumpkin mixture on top of cheesecake.

7. Top each muffin with streusel and bake for 20 minutes.

8. Allow to cool 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

BMWK: What’s your favorite holiday breakfast food?