Pumpkin Muffins with Crumb Topping

I had a can of pumpkin that has been sitting on my counter forever, just begging me to do something with it.  I found this recipe from "Food & Wine" and saw that it required only ingredients that I already had, so I went for it.  Heaven forbid that I have to make a trip to the store!

These smelled delightful when they were baking...all cinnamon-ey and pumpkin-ey.  Smelled like fall may have actually arrived.  When I had one warm out of the oven, it really wasn't everything I had hoped for.  It just tasted like something was missing.  And the cream cheese filling didn't really stay in the middle like it was supposed to, but oozed up the sides and out the top a little bit.  That didn't really bother me, I enjoy oozing cream cheese.

When I had one later that had cooled off to room temperature, I liked it a lot better.  And you can never go wrong with crumb topping.  

Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

• Filling
  1. 1/3 cup cream cheese
  2. 1 large egg yolk
  3. 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
• Topping
  1. 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  2. 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  3. 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  4. 1/4 teaspoon salt
  5. 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
• Muffins
1. 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2. 1 teaspoon cinnamon
3. Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
4. Pinch of ground cloves
5. 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
6. 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
7. 1/2 teaspoon salt
8. 2 large eggs
9. 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
10. 1/2 cup vegetable oil
11. 1 cup canned pumpkin puree

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small bowl, mix all of the ingredients together. Cover and freeze until chilled, about 30 minutes.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Work in the butter with your fingers. Press the mixture into small clumps. Refrigerate the topping until chilled, about 15 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 350° and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper or foil liners. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the eggs with the brown sugar, oil and pumpkin puree. Beat in the dry ingredients until evenly incorporated.
4. Spoon half of the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Drop heaping teaspoons of the cream cheese filling in the center of each cup and spoon the remaining batter on top. Sprinkle the crumb topping over the batter. Bake for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean. Let the muffins cool for 10 minutes before turning them out onto a rack to cool completely.

I was really excited to get to try a Tervis Tumbler as a part of Foodbuzz's Tastemaker Program.  I had never heard of them but thought they looked great.  You know how some girls have a thing for shoes?  I have a thing for anything that holds beverages.  Anytime I'm out somewhere and see some new or interesting water bottle or travel mug, I have a hard time holding back.  I'm not sure why really.  But I digress....  this mug is just perfect, and I love that it's insulated.  I hate when my glass gets condensation all over the place.   In fact, it was the perfect size to hold one of these....

Have you seen these at in the stores?  It's like a juice pouch for grown ups, except there's no straw attached.  You just throw it in the freezer, and in a couple of hours you have a delicious frozen drink.  And the tumbler kept it nice and slushy for quite a long time.