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Moist, perfectly spiced pumpkin muffins are filled with sweetened cream cheese and topped with brown-sugar streusel. Enjoy these pumpkin cream cheese muffins for a fall breakfast or sweet afternoon snack.
Even though it’s nearly Halloween and Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner, I’m not ready to let go of fall yet.
It’s been an unseasonably warm fall here, so even though I’m glad it probably won’t be snowing for trick-or-treating tomorrow, I am hoping we get some more crisp fall days before we head on into the holiday season and winter.
So even while I’m already planning out Christmas cookie recipes for you all, I’m still going to hold onto pumpkin recipes for a tiny bit longer.
That means making at least 1 or 2 more batches of these pumpkin cream cheese muffins before we head into all things cranberry and peppermint.
After all, there’s not much better than pumpkin paired with cream cheese! Give me a pumpkin cream cheese pie, pumpkin cream cheese danish, or one of these muffins and I’m a happy lady.
Moist pumpkin muffins with cream cheese filling
Aside from pumpkin bread, pumpkin roll and pumpkin cheesecake, these little pumpkin cream cheese muffins are one of my absolute favorite fall recipes to make and share. I mean, who can resist pumpkin, cream cheese and a streusel topping? Not this girl.
I took a moist classic pumpkin muffin base and added a lightly sweetened cream cheese filling and a brown sugar and pecan streusel on top. After baking, you can choose to add an optional vanilla glaze to make them extra indulgent, but they’re just as delicious without it.
The recipe makes about 20 muffins, so they’re perfect for baking up and sharing with neighbors, coworkers, teachers, and of course family!
Package them up in a bakery box with some twine and a cute tag and you have a beautiful and delicious hostess gift for any fall occasion.
Toasted up in the oven a day or two later, they might almost be better than fresh out of the oven. Almost.
You know what I’m thinking? I’m thinking Thanksgiving morning breakfast, maybe alongside my favorite make-ahead breakfast casserole! How about you?
How to make pumpkin cream cheese muffins
I know that recipes like this can seem overwhelming at first. But each of the recipe parts are actually pretty simple and they don’t take as long to make as you might think!
Recipe components
For these pumpkin cream cheese muffins, you will make:
- A cream cheese filling
- Streusel topping
- Pumpkin muffin batter
- Optional vanilla glaze
Altogether for the filling, streusel, and muffin batter, you will need:
- 8 ounces softened cream cheese
- 3 large eggs
- 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons light or dark brown sugar
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 teaspoons homemade pumpkin pie spice
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon plus a pinch of salt
- 1 (15-ounce) can pure pumpkin puree
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup melted unsalted butter
- ¼ cup chopped pecans, optional
I like to use my homemade pumpkin pie spice in these muffins, but you can swap it out for cinnamon if that’s all you have on hand.
When you’re buying the ingredients for this recipe, make sure you buy pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. Pie filling has extra ingredients that we don’t want in this recipe.
Helpful tips
- Brown sugar adds a rich flavor to the filling and streusel. If you are out of brown sugar, try making a simple brown sugar substitute to use instead. If your brown sugar hardened in the pantry, check out my post on how to soften brown sugar.
- Before you start baking, make sure you know how to measure flour correctly. Getting this seemingly simple step correct will help your muffins turn out great every time.
- The cream cheese for the filling needs to be softened before you can mix it with the egg, vanilla, and sugar. If you forget to set it out ahead of time, check out my tips for softening cream cheese quickly.
Making these pumpkin cream cheese muffins
This recipe makes about 20 pumpkin cream cheese muffins, so prep 20 standard muffin wells by spraying them with nonstick spray or lining them with muffin liners.
Start by making the filling and the streusel. For the filling, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese until soft, then add the egg, vanilla, and brown sugar and beat until smooth.
Don’t worry if you have a couple of cream cheese chunks in there – it’ll turn out fine once the muffins are baked. Set the filling aside.
For the topping, mix the brown sugar, flour, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a bowl. Use a fork to mix in the melted butter until the mixture is crumbly.
If you want to include the pecans, stir those into the streusel now. Pop this into the fridge until you’re ready to use it.
To make the muffin batter, whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
Now it’s time to assemble the muffins. Add about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the muffin matter to each of the prepared muffin wells. I like to use my medium cookie scoop to make this super easy.
Add about 2 teaspoons of the cream cheese filling to the center of the batter in each well. A small cookie scoop is useful for this part.
Top each muffin with another 1 1/2 tablespoons of batter, then sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over all of the muffins.
Bake at 375°F for 20-25 minutes. The pumpkin cream cheese muffins are done when a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean.
Let the muffins cool before serving. If you want to add the vanilla glaze, whisk it together and drizzle it over the cooled muffins.
Storage tips
Because of the cream cheese filling in these muffins, you can store them at room temperature for up to a day, but I recommend keeping them in the refrigerator for longer-term storage. Kept in an airtight container in the fridge, they’ll last up to 4 days.
You can also freeze them if you’d like! Pop the muffins into a zip-top freezer bag or airtight container and freeze for up to a month.
FAQs
Yes! If you are using homemade pumpkin puree, you will need about 2 cups for this recipe.
Keep in mind that canned pumpkin puree is typically a darker orange than homemade, since it’s a mixture of squashes. So your muffins might not be as vibrantly orange as mine, but they’ll still taste amazing!
If you don’t keep vegetable or canola oil on hand, feel free to use your preferred neutral-flavored oil, such as avocado oil.
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Ingredients
For the Filling
- 8 ounces cream cheese slightly softened
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons light or dark brown sugar
For the Streusel Topping
- ½ cup packed light or dark brown sugar
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon homemade pumpkin pie spice
- pinch of salt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
- ¼ cup chopped pecans optional
For the Muffin Batter
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 ½ teaspoons homemade pumpkin pie spice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 can pure pumpkin puree 15 ounces
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For the Optional Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 to 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 20 muffin wells with nonstick cooking spray or line with paper muffin liners.
- Prepare the Filling: In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until soft; about 3 minutes. Add egg, vanilla and brown sugar. Beat until pretty smooth – there may be some cream cheese chunks, that’s perfectly fine. Set aside.
- Prepare the Streusel Topping: In a medium bowl, mix brown sugar, flour, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Add butter and mix with a fork until crumbly. Stir in optional pecans if desired. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Prepare the Muffin Batter: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Add eggs, pumpkin, oil and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer until just combined and smooth – do not overbeat.
- Evenly distribute 1 ½ tablespoons (medium cookie scoop) of the muffin batter between 20 prepared muffin wells. Add about 2 teaspoons (small cookie scoop) of the cream cheese mixture into the center of the batter of each muffin. Top with an additional 1 ½ tablespoons of muffin batter. Sprinkle on the streusel topping.
- Bake in preheated over for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove muffin pans to cooling racks and allow the muffins to cool completely before serving.
- Optional Glaze: Once the muffins are cool, stir together the powdered sugar, vanilla and 1 teaspoon of milk at a time until you reach the desired consistency. You want the glaze to be just thin enough to drizzle over the muffins.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Just pulled my muffins out of the oven. They smell Amazing. I can hardly wait for them to cool. What do they say? Good things come to those that wait.
Nov. 17, 2019: Just made these with Bob’s Red Mill gluten free 1:1 baking flour and made them as jumbo size muffins!!! Mind blowing!! Next experiment is lactose free cream cheese – I’ll keep you posted!
Thanks so much, Dawn! So happy to hear they worked well with the Bobs mix!
-Jamie
Do you know if the freeze well? Thank you in advance for your time.
Hello! I haven’t attempted freezing this recipe, so I am not sure of the result. If you happen to give it a try, I’d love to know how they turned out. Thanks so much for stopping by.
-Jamie
These are amazing! I used Trader Joe’s pumpkin spice because I was feeling lazy, and they were still super delicious! Will be putting this recipe in my repertoire. Thank you!
So happy to hear you enjoyed the muffins, Sarah! Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your feedback!
-Jamie
Can you put batter in a loaf pan instead of muffin cups?
Hello, Judy!
That should work just fine, you’ll just need to adjust the baking time. Happy Baking!
-Jamie
wow it looks really tasty, I need to make that recipe.
Thanks so much for stopping by, Pamela!