Not too long ago I was surprised to learn all of the health benefits of pure pumpkin. This even includes the canned variety that says only “100% Pure Pumpkin” on the ingredients list. Since then I’ve been trying to find ways to incorporate it into my diet. It hasn’t been hard since I love pumpkin. One of my favorite lunch recipes is to buy a box of organic mac & cheese and stir in canned pumpkin. It’s delicious and a healthy way to enjoy lunch.
I asked Dave the other day to pick up a can of pumpkin so I could make it again, but he grabbed pumpkin pie filling instead. I usually don’t buy that unless it’s fall and am making pie. So I was stumped about what to do with it. Then Kora can home from school raving about a pumpkin bread they had for lunch. I was inspired and decided to try using the pumpkin pie filling and make some muffins.
The kids have been on a flavored cream cheese and bagel kick for awhile now and recently I bought them a brown sugar-cinnamon flavor. They didn’t enjoy it as much as the others and since they weren’t eating it, I decided to put it in the muffins.
I wasn’t sure how the muffins would turn out. With so few ingredients and having never made bread or muffins with actual pumpkin pie filling or flavored cream cheese, I was really intrigued and couldn’t wait for them to come out of the oven.
As soon as they were ready, I dove in and was thrilled to find them light, fluffy, and full of flavor!
Thanks to both the pumpkin pie filling and the cream cheese, I didn’t have to add any seasonings. Honestly, that felt odd and I was a bit nervous that the muffins would turn out to be bland but in fact they were fantastic and everyone has raved about them!
These won’t last long here and I’m adding them to our list of favorite family recipes. I’m in no way claiming these are healthy, I made a few mentions above about the health benefits of pumpkin, but this recipe is a delicious guilty pleasure. They would be perfect for potlucks, school parties, or work get togethers. They are so easy to make that you can prep them and have them in the oven in minutes. Heat them up in microwave for a few seconds with a dab of butter and you’ve got a delicious and extra special after school treat!
Ingredients
- 32 oz pumpkin pie filling
- 8 oz brown sugar cinnamon cream cheese, softened
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 1/2 cups self-rising flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Lightly coat two and a half muffin tins with cooking spray
- In a large bowl mix pumpkin pie filling and cream cheese together
- Add eggs and sugar and mix
- Pour in flour and mix well
- For even fluffier muffins let mixture sit for 10 minutes
- Fill each muffin tin half full with batter
- Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes. Insert a toothpick and when it comes out clean they are ready
- Serve warm and enjoy
What about you what is your favorite muffin recipe?
These were so good. Thanks for sharing.
Yum these look great! I think my kids would love them.
So glad your muffins turned out and every one enjoyed them. They look delicious. I like that there are not a lot of ingredients needed.