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Inside-Out Kabocha Muffins

Name: Inside-Out Kabocha Muffins
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 1 cup (~ 150 gram) mashed kabocha; 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour; 1/2 cup brown sugar; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or 1 teaspoon cinnamon + 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg + 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger); 2 eggs, room temperature; 1/4 cup honey; 1/3 cup milk; 3 tablespoon vegetable oil; 1 package (8-ounce) cream cheese, room temperature; 1/4 cup sugar; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1/2 cup all purpose flour; 1/4 cup brown sugar; 1/8 teaspoon salt; 1/4 cup old-fashion rolled oats; 4 tablespoon butter, room temperature

Last updated: Oct 6, 2017 — Published: Oct 6, 2017 — By: Anita — 4 comments

Make yourself these little muffin treats with bountiful kabocha (or pumpkin/butternut squash). It has sweet cream cheese filling as a nice surprise. And the streusel topping is always a crowd favorite. If you are thinking of hosting family/friends for the coming Thanksgiving/Christmas, you can be sure these inside-out kabocha muffins will be a delicious treat for breakfast or even as dessert.

Mashed kabocha

You need about 1 cup of mashed kabocha for this muffin. The easiest way is to stick about a quarter of kabocha, with skin on, but sans the seeds and pulp into the microwave. With a cooking time of about 5-7 minutes, your kabocha should be soft enough for you to easily scoop out the flesh with nothing but a spoon. Then, you just need to grab a fork and mash the kabocha flesh. For an average size kabocha, you are going to have leftover mashed kabocha, which you can use to make double batch of these lovely muffins, or transform the leftover into soup!

Kabocha Batter, Cream Cheese Filling, and Streusel Topping

You need a total of 3 bowls from start to finish. The first is to contain the kabocha muffin batter, consists of mashed kabocha, all purpose flour, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, egg, honey, oil, and milk. The second if for the filling, which is just a mixture of cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. The third is for the streusel topping, a simple mixture of all purpose flour, old fashion rolled oats, brown sugar, salt, and butter.

Top: assemble the muffin by adding 1.5 tablespoon kabocha batter and 1 tablespoon cream cheese filling. Bottom: finish by adding another 1.5 tablespoon kabocha batter and 1 tablespoon streusel topping.

Assemble Inside-Out Kabocha Muffins

Line your standard 12 cup muffin pan with cup cake liners. First, use a medium cookie scoop (~ 1.5 tablespoon worth) to fill each cup with muffin batter. Next, drop 1 tablespoon cream cheese filling into each muffin cup. Then, use the same cookie scoop to top each of the cup with more muffin batter. Finally, cover each muffin with about 1 tablespoon of streusel topping.

Bake the Muffins

Preheat your oven to 200 Celsius (400 Fahrenheit), then bake the muffins for 17-20 minutes. I usually start to check these muffins with a toothpick at around 15 minutes. On average, I get a perfect result at around 18 minutes. Since most oven temperature fluctuates slightly, be sure to start checking yours too at around 15 minutes. Once they are out from the oven, let cool completely. These are best within the first hour or two. Since it has cream cheese, make sure to refrigerate any leftovers. They only need about 15 seconds in the microwave to reheat nicely.