Every Fall and Thanksgiving, I make sure to buy multiple cans of pumpkin puree.  I love pumpkin, and it’s definitely a “Fall Flavor.”  However, after I baked my yummy pumpkin bread (and ate it all) and made a delicious pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, I found myself with an extra can of pumpkin puree.

I wasn’t in the mood for pie, having just finished a bunch of gluten-free pie for the Thanksgiving holiday.  My freezer stock of “treat” baked goods was almost empty, so the logical thing to do with leftover pumpkin was to make something I could freeze and eat for breakfast or a mid-afternoon snack.  I love cream cheese, so I decided on gluten-free pumpkin cheesecake muffins.  Definitely a win-win for the pumpkin and cheesecake lover in me!

I combined all the ingredients into one bowl step-by-step, using one spatula to mix, so clean up was simple as well.  I first mixed together a can of pumpkin puree (plain pumpkin), with brown sugar and a little vegetable oil.  Next, I added 2 eggs, and a 1/4 cup of light sour cream.  You could use a few different items in place of the light sour cream, if necessary – half and half cream would work, milk or Greek yogurt.

Then, I added the yummy pumpkin pie spices to the bowl – cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg – and a little salt and baking soda.  After mixing those ingredients together, the last step was adding gluten-free flour and gluten-free oats.  You could use all gluten-free flour, but I like the chewy texture of the oats in my muffins.

I sprayed cooking spray all over my two 6-cup muffin pans (since I never seem to have muffin liners) and scooped the batter into each muffin cup, filling to 2/3 of the way of each cup.  This was exactly enough batter.

However, I wasn’t finished yet – I always seem to like topping or filling in my baked goods, and this was no exception.  To a small bowl, I combined 6 oz. of softened light cream cheese, with about 1/8 of a cup of white sugar.  Next, I dropped about 1/2 of a tablespoon of cream cheese onto the top of each muffin, pressing lightly so that the cream cheese went into the muffin batter just a bit.

I baked these muffins in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.  I let them cool for a few minutes before trying one – they have a perfect pumpkin pie taste with a little dollop of tasty cream cheese.  Like many of my baked goods, these are not sugary muffins.  I eat most of my treats for breakfast, and I am not that into sugar.  So this is just right!  Because of the cream cheese, you should store these in either the refrigerator or the freezer.  Perfect bites!