Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend watching foreigners watch classic movies.  Eric and I made a reference to Darth Vader once in front of Huy, a friend of ours from Vietnam.  It slowly dawned on us that Huy had no knowledge whatsoever of Star Wars, a realization most shocking to Eric, who is possibly the biggest Star Wars geek ever.  (Actually probably not.  There are some real Star Wars freaks out there.)

And so a Star Wars marathon ensued. Every week or so we would get a bunch of food and people together and watch the movies, starting with the classics of course.  I’ve seen those movies a dozen times at least, but I can’t tell you how awesome it was to watch someone else watch it for the first time.

You should have seen Huy’s face when Vader tells Luke that he is his father.  Huy turned to us, complete disbelief on his face, and said, “You’re joking.  He’s joking right?  This is not real?”

A few weeks ago we introduced Huy to The Princess Bride.  I guess he didn’t know it was supposed to be funny, because while I was cracking up and quoting lines (Anybody want a peanut?) he was just watching, stony faced, waiting for the story to pick up.

Ingredients
For the filling

•  1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
•  1 cup powdered sugar

For the muffins

•  4 large eggs
•  2 cups granulated sugar
•  2 cups pumpkin puree (or a 15 oz can will work fine)
•  1 and 1/4 cups vegetable oil
•  3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
•  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
•  1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
•  1 teaspoon ground cloves
•  4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
•  1 teaspoon salt
•  1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

For the crumb topping

•  1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
•  1/3 cup all purpose flour
•  2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
•  6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces

Instructions

1. In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat together the cream cheese and powdered sugar on medium speed until blended and smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides and bottom.
2. Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap. Use a spatula to transfer the cream cheese mixture onto the plastic wrap in a log shape, about 1 and 1/2 inches in diameter.
3. ............................

for full recipes please see : thefoodcharlatan.com

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