Here's another great pumpkin recipe for the fall coming to us from the B Street House Bed & Breakfast in Virginia City, NV. There are two things in this recipe that make your taste buds leap off the charts ... it's spicy like gingerbread ... and it has a gooey cream cheese surprise in the middle.
There was one particular spice that I didn't have in my pantry, and while I was shopping for ingredients my jaw it the floor at the price ... Cardamom. There was only one brand in our local grocer that carried it and the sucker was 12 bucks. Sheesh. Well, if it's expensive, it must be good, right? This inspired me to do some research. What's the story behind this pricey spice? I googled it and found that my $12 bottle was a bargain. Some spice shops online were charging upwards of $67. I've just renamed this recipe Fall Harvest Food of the Gods.
Wikipedia says ... "Green cardamom in South Asia is broadly used to treat infections in teeth and gums, to prevent and treat throat troubles, congestion of the lungs and pulmonary tuberculosis, inflammation of eyelids and also digestive disorders. It also is used to break up kidney stones and gall stones, and was reportedly used as an antidote for both snake and scorpion venom." The spice includes volatile oils such as camphor, eucalyptol, and limonene. Some sites reported it to be used in Ayurvedic medicine and also an effective aphrodisiac.
Well no wonder it's so dang expensive! It's a absolute cure-all. Next time I get sick I'm baking some of these babies instead of taking NyQuil.
On with the recipe ...
Hmm. After taking a glance at this photo, it looks like I went overboard with the cinnamon again. Good thing it wasn't with the cardomom! No ... wait ... it's the pumpkin pie spice that's the big mound in the middle. They call it "spicy" pumpkin muffins for a reason! There is almost as much spice as there is flour. I have a full list of ingredients with the recipe at the bottom of the post.
The stars of this show ...
Cream Cheese. Take an 8 ounce block and cut it into 12 little cubes.
And of course, the spices. They even smiled for the occasion.
Add your dry ingredients to one bowl. Starting with flour ...
The menagerie of spices ...
A whoosh of dark brown sugar ...
And then add your "wet" ingredients to a second bowl.
Starting with canned pumpkin (plain, not the pie filling)
A little oil. I had to hold this with two hands as I was starting to get messy and lost my "no slip" grip in my fingertips.
Molasses. I have a funny confession about molasses. During my go-green-all-natural-hippy phase (I'm still eco-friendly, but lite) I decided I was going to try molasses instead of syrup on my pancakes. I had been using maple, which is natural but high calorie. I thought this would make a low-cal natural alternative. Buwhahahaahahahahah!
It was my first time trying the tar-like sap. Took me a year to try it again. But only in it's proper use as a "blended" ingredient.
Buwwwahhhahahahah!
I'm laughing so hard I'm crying. Enough with the self-deprecating confession. Needless to say I didn't lick this bowl.
Add two eggs, a cap full of vanilla and whip together.
Then add to your BIG bowl of dry ingredients and whip together some more.
Spoon into muffin cups. If you know a non-messy trick to doing this, please let me know!
I usually just wipe down the pan with a wet paper towel to erase the splatter. I know on TV and in cookbooks it always looks so neat and tidy ... but I bet the reality is there is someone just behind the camera wiping down the messy spoon drippings too.
Press the cream cheese cubes into the center of each muffin cup. Resist the temptation to pop them in your mouth. Resist!
Sprinkle with chopped walnuts and pop em in the oven at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes.
Voila! Spicy Pumpkin Muffins. Fall Harvest Food of the Gods.
B Street House Bed & Breakfast
Spicy Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Ingredients
8 oz cream cheese
1 1/2 Cups flour
1 Cup dark brown sugar
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 Cup cooked or canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
2/3 Cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp molasses
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 Cup chopped walnuts
Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or spray with butter-flavored oil spray 12 muffin tins or line with paper baking cups.
2) Stir together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix together the pumpkin and wet ingredients. Stir into dry ingredients until blended. Fill muffin tins 3/4 of the way full.
3) Divide cream cheese into 12 equal portions. Put one portion in each muffin in the middle of the muffin batter, pressing down. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts.
4) Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the muffin part. Let cool for a bit then serve!
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Hey Rachelle,
They look delish! As far as a non-messy trick. Instead of spooning the batter, put it in a plastic bag (I use parchment paper; however everyone has a zip-lock handy) cut the end; and, pipe the batter into the muffin cups. No mess, no fuss.
Piping is a cake decorating term–google it or submit question to chef Jim.
Chef Jim, Mount Dora Historic Inn
I do the same thing that Jim does – I put the goo in a big zip lock and cut a hole in the corner. My mom has a different trick – she has one of those cookie/cake decorator gadgets from PC and she uses that. Same concept, reusable container.
OMG! After reading this and looking at the pictures I am heading to the store to make Mike a special treat!
These sure look good. I can’t wait to try them. Thanks, Maranda.
These muffins sound absolutely scrumptious especially with the cream cheese in the middle, yum!
Zowie! Great recipe. I am going to try to veganize these.
Cool! Do share your veganized version. Is that w/o eggs?