Got Milk? Cream Cheese Pumpkin Muffins

So.
I made jam last week.  2 kinds - strawberry and strawberry-rhubarb.  Seeing as I just used the recipe that came with the Certo, there's no reason to post, other than to say it's delicious, and you should hope you're on my Christmas list.  J was astounded with the amount of sugar that I went through in 2 days making jam.  But really, when the recipe is fruit, sugar, and pectin and you got 14-15 bottles of jam, what can you expect?
The reason I bother to tell you about the jam is that it shut down my cooking.  Completely and utterly.  After being so busy in the kitchen I started doing nothing.  But there was a sort of reason, namely these muffins.
Last Saturday morning I got up and started to measure everything out for these muffins.  I made the filling and froze it, lined the 2 muffin trays, stirred together the flour and spices with a fork, and then reached for the sugar....
...and was half a cup short.
While this shouldn't really have derailed things, it totally did.  I added sugar to my grocery list and assumed that I would go later Saturday.  But I floated in the pool and enjoyed the weather.  So we talked of going on Sunday.  But we went for a drive and to enjoy the weather.  You get the idea.
Finally, we went to the grocery store and I bought my sugar, but I had become accustomed to moving the muffin things I'd set out around my kitchen so I could cook other meals; and so I put off making these muffins again.
This morning, I came down earlier than usual to make sure everything that needed to go out with the garbage.  I saw the bowls on the counter and decided it was time to have warm muffins with my coffee for breakfast.  Just under a week after I started the process.
I would recommend that you don't wait as long as I did to make these.  They're great.  But if you do wait until you have enough sugar and your motivation to return, I won't judge.
I present to you now The Girl Who Ate Everything's Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins:

Ingredients:
For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese
1 c icing sugar
For the muffins:
3 c flour
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
4 eggs
2 c sugar
2 c solid pack pumpkin
1-1/4 c vegetable oil
Method:
1.  Make the filling:  In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine cream cheese and icing sugar.  Beat until smooth.  On a sheet of plastic wrap, turn out the filling and form into a log, about 1-1/4" in diameter.  Roll in the plastic wrap and reinforce the roll with a piece of tin foil.  Place in freezer for at least 2 hours, until firm.
2.  Make the muffins:  In a large bowl, sift together flour, spices, salt, and baking soda.  Set aside.  Heat oven to 350F, and line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
3.  In the bowl of a mixer, combine eggs, sugar, pumpkin, and oil.  Blend until smooth.  Stir in dry ingredients until just moistened.
4.  In each of the 24 paper liners, spoon about 2 Tbsp muffin batter.  Slice the cream cheese log into 24 equal rounds.  Set in the middle of each batter pool.  Divide remaining batter between the 24 cups, covering the cream cheese filling completely.
5.  Bake muffins at 350F for 20-25 minutes, until golden and done.  Let cool before storing what you don't eat!

From Annie's Eats, via The Girl Who Ate Everything, with slight adaptations

So, this can sit in your freezer for 2 hours, or a week. It doesn't become solid, just more firm.  I had no issues getting through this when slicing.  I filled the bottoms of the liners and then put the filling in each one.  It was starting to get sticky by the time I got to the last piece.

I was surprised at how big the piece of filling looked, but it didn't come through the top of the muffin.

They smelled lovely, and tasted just as good.  The original recipe called for a streusel topping, but I was just as happy to leave it off.  Less crumbs to deal with.

With lots of filling, you don't miss the topping.  And it's all good with a cup of coffee.