The BEST Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins! Better than the bakery and one of my favorite pumpkin muffins of all time!
These Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins are so delicious they deserve to be enjoyed all year round! They are perfect–soft and tender with the perfect fall spice flavors and a sweet cream cheese filling. I know you’ll LOVE them!
How to make Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins:
- Prepare the filling by combining the cream cheese and powdered sugar and whip until smooth. Grease a large piece of parchment paper, plastic wrap or aluminum foil and scoop the mixture onto it. Grease your hands with non-stick cooking spray and gently form a log, making sure that the diameter is small enough to fit into the well of a muffin pan. Wrap the log up tightly and freeze for 1-2 hours.
- For the muffins, combine the flour, spices, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Stir and set aside. In a separate large bowl combine the eggs, oil, sugar and pumpkin puree. Mix until well combined. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- To make the streusel topping, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Mix together with a pastry blender or fork until crumbly.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease your muffin pan (or line with paper liners).
- Fill each muffin cup 1/3 full with batter. Remove the cream cheese log from the freezer and slice into 12 equal slices. Place a slice on top of the batter in each muffin well and gently press down (don’t press it all the way down to the bottom of the pan– just a little bit into the batter). Spoon the remaining batter evenly on top of each of the cream cheese muffin tops. Sprinkle the streusel topping on top.
- Bake muffins for 18-20 minutes. Remove from muffin pan and allow to cool on a wire rack before serving.
Storing and Freezing Instructions:
Store pumpkin cream cheese muffins in the refrigerator in an air-tight container for 3-5 days.
To freeze:
Once cooled, place muffins in a freezer safe bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Consider trying some of my other popular pumpkin recipes:
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Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Video
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 4 ounces cream cheese , softened
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
For the muffins:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 1 /2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2/3 cup oil (vegetable or canola oil)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
For the streusel topping:
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons light brown sugar , packed
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons butter , cold and cubed
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Prepare the filling by combining the cream cheese and powdered sugar and whip until smooth. Grease a large piece of plastic wrap, parchment paper or aluminum foil and scoop the mixture onto it. Grease your hands with non-stick cooking spray and gently form a log, making sure that the diameter is small enough to fit into the well of a muffin pan. Wrap the log up in the tinfoil and freeze for 1-2 hours.
- For the muffins, combine the flour, spices,baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Stir and set aside. In a separate large bowl combine the eggs, oil, sugar and pumpkin puree. Mix until well combined. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- To make the streusel topping, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Mix together with a pastry blender or fork until crumbly.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a standard muffin pan, or line with paper liners.
- Fill each muffin cup 1/3 full with batter. Remove the cream cheese log from the freezer and slice into 12 equal slices. Place a slice in the center of the batter in each muffin cup. Spoon the remaining batter evenly on top of each muffin cup. Sprinkle the streusel topping on top.
- Bake muffins for 18-20 minutes. Remove from muffin pan and allow to cool on a wire rack before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
I originally shared this recipe August 2016. Updated October 2020.
Brenda Stern says
These pumpkin muffins gems are perfect balance, I added pumpkin seeds on top before baking. Will diffently make them again. Make sure you freeze the cream cheese icing for at least 2 hours, makes it easier to cut.
Sharon says
These were delicious. I made with whole wheat flour and added 1/2 tsp baking powder. I also pipped the cream cheese filling after chilling, while I made the batter, rather than freezing it. Thanks for the recipe!
Lauren Allen says
I love your addition of whole wheat flour. I’m so happy you enjoyed them 🙂
Julie W. says
Instead of rolling filling and freezing, I used a mini cupcake tin to portion out filling and froze that. It worked perfectly! Great recipe.
Lauren Allen says
Great tip! Thanks Julie.
Juliana Saal says
These muffins turned out perfect!! I made 32 mini muffins and cooked them for 12 minutes. They were so moist with a great crispness from the topping. Will definitely be adding this recipe to the repertoire.
Lauren Allen says
Thanks so much for the great feedback!
Nancy says
These muffins are better than Starbucks, going to make a gluten free batch next.
Audrey says
My company for lunch loved these muffins and so did my family.
I will be making them again and adding the recipe to my yummy go to list.
I only put the cream cheese into the freezer for about 10 minutes
and spooned it onto the batter and it worked fine. The cream cheese is so
soft and delicious. The batter makes a dozen good sized muffins. I used too
much butter in the streusel topping because it wasn’t as fluffy as it would have been.
It’s a hit.
Thanks so much
Christine says
If I use homemade pumpkin purée how much would I use for this recipe
Lauren Allen says
The same amount
Stephanie says
These were so easy and fun to put together! Thank you so much for the recipe!
Dawn Lingold says
My daughters and I make these each year on our “Fall Baking Day”, and every year I am reminded how delicious they are- and that I want to make them all year long, not just fall!
Your family and guests will be impressed, and your secret will be that they are soo easy to make!
Thank you Lauren!