We are house shopping like nobody’s business.
Every weekend we get in the car and cruise the neighborhood /town we are looking at for new listings and I really really really hope that soon we find just the right thing and also that it is not 654659786 dollars.
Right now we live in a rural community and I am miserable. I HATE IT. Strong words, I know. But I’m serious!!! And I’ll tell you why.
It’s because it’s not rural enough.
If I am going to live without a Starbucks 5 minutes away or quick access to Target then I think I should not have to deal with weird gross neighbors (of which I currently have two and that is two too many).
I need rural to mean wide open spaces. I need rural to mean that I do not almost get run over at 7 a.m. while I am 5 feet off the road in the grass and walking my dog. And while we are on the dog subject, I also need rural to mean that when I am walking I do not want to have to reason with 15 loose dogs per mile that either want to sneak up and bite my Lucy Girl OR they want to follow me home because no one has ever been nice to them and I seem like a super nice doggie mom.
Oh! Also I need rural to mean that neighbor #3 doesn’t burn trash because it makes me cough and also it is 2013 and don’t you know better by now? GAH.
So where we are house shopping there is a cute little town-square-ish spot with a few restaurants, a cute little sandwich shop, a bank, a handful of stores, trees, benches, grass, SIDEWALKS. You can walk to all of it. And I strongly suspect that if people start burning plastic there will be more than just me to complain.
There are a couple empty store fronts and the only thing that square is missing right now is a coffee shop!!
By the time we find the right place I’m gonna need there to be a coffee shop. The stars will align and it will all work out and I will walk Lucy from new house to coffee shop without narrowly missing death-by-neighbors’-truck. I will take my latte back home via the tree-lined sidewalk and stuff my face full of Pumpkin Oat and Cream Cheese Stuffed Muffins and live happily ever after.
- For the Muffins:
- 1½ cups quick oats
- 1½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ¾ cup sour cream
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons oil
- ¾ cups pumpkin
- For the Filling:
- 1 (8 ounce) block of cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup (or less) milk
- Preheat the oven to 350 and line a standard muffin pan with paper liners or lightly grease.
- In a large bowl whisk together the quick oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
- Make a small well in the center of the dry mixture and add the sour cream, eggs, oil and pumpkin. Stir until just combined. The batter will be thick.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan, dividing the batter evenly between the 12 cups. They will be pretty full.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes. A pick inserted into the center will come out clean.
- While the muffins bake make the cream cheese filling. Beat the softened cream cheese with the powdered sugar until smooth. Drizzle in the milk a little at a time and beat to reach your desired consistency (I like thick filling).
- Let the muffins cool and use a paring knife to cut a little cone out of the center of each muffin. I used a spoon to fill each muffin though you could definitely get fancy and use a pastry bag with a tip.
Krissi
Sunday 14th of July 2024
These are DELISH!! For those that think they are a bit dry, I use 8oz sour cream instead of 3/4 cup. I also added some pumpkin puree to my frosting in place of milk. Turned out FANTASTIC!!! Thank you SO MUCH!!!
Ella
Wednesday 30th of September 2020
Hey There Heather, I am so excited to give this muffin recipe a shot. I am a little confused though. Do I use pumpkin puree or do I just scoop the insides out of a pumpkin and use that? Thank you for your delicious recipe! :-)
Heather Tullos
Saturday 3rd of October 2020
Definitely puree!
Sona
Wednesday 24th of December 2014
Hi Heather, This recipe looks absolutely delish and cannot wait to make it on Christmas morning ! I do want to clarify something though..Step #3 says "Make a small well in the center of the dry mixture and add the sour cream, eggs, oil and pumpkin. Stir until just combined. The batter will be thick." Do we have to add the sour cream, eggs, oil etc without beating all of them first? especially the eggs? I was not sure of this step so it would help if you can clarify :). Thanks much!
Heather Tullos
Wednesday 24th of December 2014
Hi Sona! You can beat them first but you don't have to. They key is to not overmix! I've had a reader or two leave comments that these turned out a little bit dry for them. I've not had that problem but I also have not had the chance to troubleshoot the recipe with those readers. SO. Make sure not to over mix. That is key. Beating the sour cream, eggs, oil, etc ahead of time might help with that. I'd also recommend this recipe : https://www.sugardishme.com/2014/01/03/sweet-potato-muffins-pecan-streusel/
You can easily substitute the sweet potato for pumpkin. They are so fluffy and awesome! Have the best muffin-filled Christmas morning and thanks for reading!
Brandy
Tuesday 15th of October 2013
I gave these a try. I love all things pumpkin spiced, and I was super excited. I followed the recipe exactly, but my muffins were horrible. They were dense and dry and not very pumpkiny or sweet. I'm going to give it another go, though, and tweak it a bit and see if I can't get something with a little moister crumb.
Heather
Tuesday 15th of October 2013
Hey again, Brandy! I am replying to this in the comments to hopefully help anyone else that is looking for tips. I made these again today. I actually over-baked some for 7 minutes to see what would happen (and also my cat was in my lap). Mine were still moist. I tasted the baked muffin WITHOUT the cream cheese filling and you're right -they aren't sweet (only 1/2 cup brown sugar in the whole batch). The lack of sugar in the muffins was to compensate for the sweetness of the filling, but if you prefer a sweeter muffin an extra 1/2 cup of brown sugar OR 1/4 cup of granulated sugar should work fine. If you want more pumpkin flavor you could sub another 1/4 cup of the pumpkin for 1/4 cup of the sour cream. That would make it 1 cup of pumpkin + 1/2 cup sour cream. And finally-- feel free to leave out the oats! You can use all purpose flour in place of the quick oats (making it a total of 3 cups of flour). The oats DO lend to a more dense texture so if you want a spongier muffin that will help. You may also want to try these instead (use pumpkin in place of the banana :) ) : https://www.sugardishme.com/2013/01/03/banana-oatmeal-muffins/
Heather
Tuesday 15th of October 2013
Oh no Brandy! I'm so sorry! I'm sitting here reading through the recipe and with the amount of sour cream, pumpkin, and oil, these should not have been dry at all. It's been a good month since I baked these -- they ARE dense because they're oat heavy but were never dry ( I sent these out the door with Chad for days!). I'm gonna work through my steps this morning and see if I can help. Sorry they didn't work for you on the first try!!!
Carrie @ Frugal Foodie Mama
Monday 30th of September 2013
Love these muffins, Heather! Pumpkin? Oats? & cream cheese?? Yes, please! :)
Heather
Monday 30th of September 2013
Thanks Sweets! They were a hit!