A great way to start off autumn because these babies scream autumn! The pumpkin and the boiled cider and the cream cheese and the streusel topping...are you kidding me right now???? SHAZAAM!!! As I made these for a dinner party and was totally trying to show off, I used paper tulip baking cups (the fancy paper ones you only see in fancy bakeries). I got twelve for about three bucks which I personally think was worth the extra "wow" factor. You won't miss that extra dollar or two while relishing in the glow of glory as everyone walks passed snarky Aunt Petunia's "Generic vanilla cupcakes from a box, topped with three inches of shame that makes you feel like your one bite closer to a dentist appointment, but hey...at least it has fun sprinkles on top" to get to your gorgeous, delicious and unique homemade mini-cakes made with love! Words of note: Don't let there being three different parts to make scare you. They are all amazingly easy and as long as you get the butter and cream cheese to mostly room temperature, you shouldn't even need to bust out the mixer. I just used a fork and it came out perfect. I misread the instructions and put two tablespoons of batter below the filling which only left me with one tablespoon for on top. Make sure not to do this. One good size tablespoon on the bottom and two tablespoons on top. It worked out fine for me, but I'd of much rather preferred one on the bottom and two on top than the other way around. I made the cream cheese filling first so I could get it in the fridge while I made the rest. Having the filling chilled made scooping it into the cups much more manageable. I'm not sure how important the boiled cider is compared to like a honey or the dark corn syrup (as I have only made these once) but as the boiled cider can be made days ahead of time, is outrageously easy and makes the whole house smell like an apple orchard...I highly recommend it! Thanks King Arthur Flour and thanks PJ for the great article! Can't wait to ruin snarky Aunt Linda's day again at the next family function!!!!

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