Pumpkin Surprise Muffins

Hmmm, what do these three things have in common... besides being yummy... well, if combined correctly, they make just about the most scrumptious muffins in the WHOLE WORLD!!! At least, I think so. :) These Pumpkin Surprise Muffins are my favorite muffins ever. Ever ever ever ever. They were my favorite growing up, and at one point in my adult life, I have eaten EIGHT before realizing what I was doing. (It wasn't my fault, blame the meds!!) I make these almost every General Conference weekend, multiple times each fall... yeah, they pretty much rock. I was going to save these for fall, be more seasonally appropriate, but ah well. Why are they called Surprise muffins, you ask?? Well, you'll just have to keep reading to find out! :)

Pumpkin Surprise Muffins
Printable Recipe

2 cups flour
1 Tb baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin
2 eggs

1 package cream cheese
1 small jar apricot jam
almonds (optional) and coarse sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a muffin pan.

Mix dry ingredients together well. Add everything else and mix well until smooth. (Simple, huh?)

Spoon a large spoonful of batter into the bottom of each muffin cup.

Cut about tablespoon-sized chunks of cream cheese for each muffin cup, and press them into the batter just a bit. Just eyeball it, precision measuring is not important here! (I adore cream cheese, so I put a LOT in these!!)

Spoon about a teaspoon of jam on top of each cream cheese chunk. Divide the rest of the batter among all cups, to cover filling. Gently spread the top batter just a bit to make sure it meets the bottom batter around the edges (so the filling isn't exposed). Sprinkle sugar on top, and top with almonds (optional) and coarse sugar.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Wait a few minutes for them to cool a bit, or the filling will be HOT!!

Ah, so unassuming from the outside, you would never guess the decadent deliciousness hiding inside!

Well, there's a bit of a clue... what could that BE??

OH yeah. You know you want one. The pumpkin muffin is fluffy and lightly spiced, the cream cheese and jam are warm and melty and soooo yummy... Do you really need me to describe??

My Mom is probably snickering at the amount of cream cheese in there... I think it's about double what she always used...(hee hee!) If you aren't an apricot fan, you could use any other jam, but I think apricot works the best!

It feels so GOOD to be baking again!! Now, I better go find some neighbors to share these with.