surprise pumpkin muffins

I saw this recipe on one of the new blogs I'm stalking and decided that I MUST make it. My little 4 year old neighbor was helping me bake yesterday, she had a couple of questions and it went a little like this:

Neighb: why does the icing go in the inside?
Me: because they're surprise muffins
Neighb: how are they surprise muffins?
Me: because if you didn't watch me make them you wouldn't know that there was yummy icing in the middle until you bit in and surprise!
Neighb: oh, ok (insert sweet smile here)

So all of that to say, here is the wonderfully yummy surprise pumpkin muffin recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3 oz 1/3-less-fat neufchatel cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 Tbsp evaporated cane juice or granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground pumpkin pie spice
  

• canola oil cooking spray
• 2 cups sifted whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  
• 2 Tbsp unsulfured molasses
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 large eggs, lightly whisked
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
• 1/4 cup raw, unsalted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper cups.
2. In a small bowl, stir together the cream cheese, evaporated cane juice, and 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice until well mixed. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through nutmeg).
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, molasses, oil, and eggs until combined. Whisk in the pumpkin, vanilla, and buttermilk.
5. Add dry ingredients into wet and stir just until fully moistened.
6. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin, filling each cup a little less than half way full; smooth batter with back of a spoon to even out. Spoon about 1 heaping tsp of the cream cheese mixture into the center of each cup. Top with remaining batter. Each cup will be almost completely full. Smooth tops with back of a spoon.
7. Sprinkle each filled muffin cup with a few pepitas.
8. Bake muffins for 20-23 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean (a bit of cream cheese clinging to the toothpick is fine, but there shouldn’t be any raw batter).
9. Let the muffins cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes. Transfer muffins to a wire rack and let cool completely.

(Chef Jessi note: I did not put the pumpkin seeds on the muffins because a certain someone whom I live with does not like any types of nuts or seeds in food. hmph!)

also, much thanks to healthyfoodforliving.com--the recipe and photo are hers :)