KAF Bakealong Declares It’s Fall with Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins

King Arthur Flour’s September Bakealong plans for the beginning of fall with surprising Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins!

For its latest Bakealong challenge, King Arthur Flour points bakers to their Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins. I’m not much of an icing or frosting fan, but cream cheese frosting always has me licking my fingers. Combine that with the siren song of pumpkin and you’ve got me roped in.

The Magic of Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins

Every year the herald of fall comes in like a tidal wave. You know what I’m talking about, PUMPKIN SPICE EVERYTHING. For me, many of these things fall completely short of the mark when it comes to the first word, pumpkin. Sad snacks lacking fruitiness that leave me wondering why they even bother to pretend.

This muffin recipe avoids that pitfall and will be spared by the Great Pumpkin when he comes to smite the offenders. I wasn’t sure with the recipe’s mere 1 cup of pumpkin, but it turned out to be a high ratio to other ingredients.

The other great part about this recipe is that the muffin filling is baked inside the muffin. I’ve always felt like a cheater when a filling requires taking apart your muffin or cupcake to add it later. I can’t help but think about this scene from Lilo & Stitch when I bake things using that method.

Baked in filling means you can burn your tongue on a hot muffin straight from the oven. No impatient waiting for things to cool down for surgical filling intervention! The deliciousness you smell for 18-20 minutes can be yours faster.

The Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins are fantastic. The streusel topping with a touch of oats is sublime. I’ll have to try using it on other things. Please note that due to the filling, these muffins need to be stored in the refrigerator.

Baking Notes

Here are my observations and musings for this recipe:

• The recipe calls for spraying muffin papers, but I used parchment paper liners which do not need to be sprayed. I had no sticking issues.
• For the anti-pumpkin faction: I wonder if applesauce that’s been cooked down to reduce the water would work out as a substitute.
• It’s hard to tell from their step-by-step blog post how thick it is, but I think my batter was a little too thin. The filling did stay positioned inside, but it was very close to the bottom. Next time I’ll try reducing the milk for better consistency. Or I’ll go with the whole wheat flour option to see if it helps soak up more liquid.
• It might be related to the thinner batter, but there was an airspace above my filling. I’ve seen other comments about muffin tops caving in. This is likely a variant of that issue. Hopefully it can be resolved with my ideas above.
• The cream cheese filling was lighter textured than I was expecting. I plan to experiment with adding an egg to see if it can be a more cheesecake-like texture. I’d do this with room temperature eggs or even pasteurized eggs due to the short 20 minute baking time.

Next: Love Child of Summer and Fall: Salted Peach Caramel Sauce

All in all, I enjoyed the Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins and would recommend them. I’m eager to see what October brings. Possibly another savory recipe if they alternate. September’s recipe has actually been on their site since 2013, so I’m hoping next month’s is something new.