fall fabulousness.

Fabulousness. Is that even a word?! I’m not sure. And I don’t care. I will use it anyway.

I love to bake. But, I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t been able to do much in the kitchen. I’m either in class, at work, doing homework, preparing lessons, or attempting to squeeze in some decent hours of sleep. Today, I had nothing urgent to do so I got to work in the kitchen! I found a wonderful recipe almost a year ago that I’ve been dying to make. It’s the perfect fall treat. And it’s fabulous. Just plain fabulous!

I love Annie’s Eats. I discovered her food blog a while back, and I’ve been following her ever since. One day, when I probably should have been doing homework, I spent lots of time looking through all of her recipes. I stumbled upon her pumpkin cream cheese muffins, and I was intrigued. But I was a little intimidated. So I waited. And I waited. And I waited. And...finally...I worked up the courage to make these muffins.

Before telling you all about these fabulous muffins, I have to tell you a little secret! A while back, my mom gave me a 40 pound (that’s right, FORTY POUND) box of sweet potatoes. Someone please tell me what a 21-year-old college girl is supposed to do with 40 pounds of sweet potatoes?! I tried to give a good amount away, and then I cooked and mashed and froze many of them. I know that I’m going to use a good deal of all this sweet potato goodness for casseroles on Thanksgiving, but I definitely won’t be making 40 pounds worth of sweet potato casserole. So, instead of making pumpkin cream cheese muffins...I made SWEET POTATO CREAM CHEESE MUFFINS. I simply replaced the pumpkin puree with sweet potato puree. And, I omitted the ground nutmeg and ground cloves too. But that’s just because I was too cheap to go buy any! ;)

I’m not going to post the step-by-step recipe but you can find it HERE! :) I’ve posted some pictures below that I took throughout the process. Please excuse the poor quality. I need to start using my nice camera instead of my iPhone!

On the left, my dry ingredients! On the right, my wet ingredients!
 

Mixing the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients!

Making the streusel topping!

 I forgot to snap a picture of the cream cheese log, but this is what it looked like after I sliced it. I put a little of the batter in the cupcake holder, then the cream cheese filling, and then some more batter to cover. The cream cheese log is supposed to chill for 2 hours in the freezer...but I was impatient! I only left mine in the freezer for about an hour, and it was just fine!

 Spooning the streusel over the tops!

Yummies. That's all I can say. Oh...and I splurged and bought the pretty cupcake holders at Food Lion. I normally buy the plain, white, cheap ones, but I've always admired these fancy ones! So...today I actually bought them! Super cute, huh?!

 

I love these muffins. They might be a breakfast food, but they are absolutely a TREAT! They are sweet, but not overly sweet. The cake/bread part is very, very moist. The streusel topping is crunchy and wonderful. The cream cheese filling is rich and smooth. These muffins are a perfect fall treat! A perfect start to a crisp fall day! Or, if you’re like me, they’re perfect as a treat after lunch or dinner too! And...if you’re really like me, they’re a sinful nighttime snack with a tall glass of milk! ;)

Honestly, I don’t know why I was ever intimidated by this recipe. It’s so, so simple and easy to make. I will definitely be making these muffins again. And y'all should make them too!

Peace and blessings...and happy eating!

Kaitlyn