Instead of being iced, these nicely spicy pumpkin muffins have a sweetened cream cheese center that bakes right along with the muffin. Moist, delicious — and attractive! — they're a lovely harvest-time (AND year-round) treat.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with muffin papers, and grease the papers.
To make the streusel: Whisk together the flour, sugar, oats, and salt. Work in the butter, mixing until coarse crumbs form. Set the topping aside.
To make the filling: Make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature. If it's not, place it in a microwave-safe bowl, and heat on low power for 40 seconds, just to soften it. Stir in the sugar and vanilla or Fiori di Sicilia.
To make the batter: Whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, oil, boiled cider, salt, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and milk. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Add the flour and mix until well combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat briefly to incorporate the scrapings.
Drop a scant 2 tablespoons of the batter into each muffin cup (a heaping tablespoon cookie scoop works well here), spreading it to cover the bottom. Dollop on a generous tablespoon of filling (one level cookie scoop), then cover with another 2 tablespoons of batter (another heaping cookie scoop).
Sprinkle each muffin with some of the streusel topping. (A slightly heaped tablespoon cookie scoop is about right.)
Bake the muffins for 18 to 20 minutes, until a cake tester inserted towards the edge (not into the filling) comes out crumb-free.
Remove the muffins from the oven. As soon as they're cool enough to safely handle, transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
Enjoy fresh-baked muffins within 2 to 3 hours; refrigerate up to 3 days for longer storage. Freeze, well-wrapped, up to 3 weeks. Rewarm cold muffins in a preheated 350°F oven, tented with foil. Or heat briefly in a microwave set at low power.
Want to substitute whole wheat flour for some (or perhaps all) of the all-purpose flour in this recipe? For best results, see How to substitute whole wheat flour for white flour in baking.
