Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling

Muffin:
1 cup canola oil
3 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 (15 oz) can pure pumpkin
1 cup water
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place the muffin liners in the muffin pan.
Whisk the oil and sugar in a large bowl.

(I thought this looked like something that comes out of a Snoopy SnoCone machine.)

Add the eggs, pumpkin, and water and whisk until combined.

Stir in the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt.

Finished Batter:

Fill 24 muffin cups almost to the top with batter, leaving about an 1/8th of an inch unfilled.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool your muffins completely before attempting to fill them.

Cream Cheese Filling:
4 oz. cream cheese
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla

Soften cream cheese & butter. Using a mixer, blend the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Add the vanilla and sugar and beat until smooth.

Using Wilton piping tip #230 and a piping bag – insert the tip into the muffin and squeeze a small amount of the filling into each muffin.

(This is the method. The tip is specifically for filling pastries. I found mine at Michael’s.)

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and ENJOY!

Split open to show the cream cheesy goodness:

These truly are the best pumpkin muffins I have ever tasted. They are moist, delicate and delicious. I highly recommend that you try them. I did have some trouble finding canned pumpkin here in Florida. Mr. Publix Man said that there was some sort of pumpkin crop apocalypse recently and they hope to have enough in production to take care of Thanksgiving demand!