Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins -- October Tastes Like This

Halloween at school. Same philosophy as last year's student teaching placement: costumes optional, low-key, sensory accommodations first. I sent a note home three weeks ago asking what each child could tolerate and planning around the answers. Marcus wore a fireman hat, which he wore all day without taking off. Rosa decorated her own shirt with fabric markers the day before. T. came in with no costume and said "Halloween is for little kids," which is exactly what a ten-year-old who wants to be cool says, and I did not disagree because he is entitled to his opinion and also he wore the pirate hat Carla offered him at eleven AM and wore it for the rest of the day.

Driving to Oak Lawn this weekend — first visit since summer ended. I will see Babcia Rose. I spoke with Patty about her this week and Patty said she had seemed tired at the last few Sunday dinners, which Patty noted carefully in the way she notes everything, without making it into an alarm. I noted it too. I will see her on Sunday and draw my own conclusion. She is 87. The conclusions are what they are.

Made pumpkin soup this week because it is October and I will not apologize for this. Two cans of pumpkin puree, chicken broth, garlic, onion, ginger, cumin, a can of coconut milk, cayenne. Blended smooth, cream swirled on top. Under three dollars for a pot. Ate it with crusty bread from the bakery on 18th Street that is better than any bread I have bought elsewhere at two fifty a loaf.

The pumpkin soup and the bread in the Pilsen apartment in October with the window cracking cool air and the murals on the building across the street — this is what my life looks like now. I am twenty-three years old, I have a classroom full of children I love, I have a blog that people read, I have a kitchen window that faces east, and I make pumpkin soup on Sundays. These are the coordinates of a life. I like them.

The soup has its place —mdash; and I will keep making it every October without apology —mdash; but the pumpkin feeling lingered past Sunday, past the crusty bread, past the cool air through the window. I wanted something I could hold in my hand on a Tuesday morning before school, something that carried the same coordinates: pumpkin, warm spice, the particular comfort of a season you have chosen to lean into. These muffins do exactly that. A swirl of cream cheese in the center, the same can of pumpkin that lives in my cabinet all fall, and enough for the whole week —mdash; which, when you are twenty-three and teaching ten-year-olds and visiting grandmothers on Sundays, matters.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 22 min | Total Time: 37 min | Servings: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• Cream Cheese Filling:
• 6 oz cream cheese, softened
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Muffin Batter:
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup neutral oil (vegetable or canola)
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat and prep. Heat oven to 375°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease lightly with cooking spray.
2. Make the cream cheese filling. In a small bowl, beat the softened cream cheese, 3 tablespoons sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla together with a fork until smooth and fluffy. Set aside.
3. Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
4. Mix the wet ingredients. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, oil, milk, and vanilla until fully combined.
5. Combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently with a spatula just until no dry streaks remain. Do not overmix —mdash; a few lumps are fine.
6. Fill the cups. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of batter into each muffin cup. Add a heaping teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture to the center of each cup, then top with another tablespoon of batter, covering the cream cheese as best you can.
7. Swirl. Use a toothpick or skewer to gently swirl the top of each muffin once or twice for a marbled effect, if desired.
8. Bake. Bake for 20–22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the pumpkin portion (not the cream cheese center) comes out clean and the tops spring back lightly when pressed.
9. Cool. Let muffins cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. The cream cheese center firms up as they cool. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 218 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 10g | Carbs: 29g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 218mg