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These pumpkin cream cheese muffins are moist, fluffy, and filled with a cinnamon-swirled cream cheese center. So easy to make too! Perfect to enjoy as a snack, treat, or breakfast.
Fall baking doesn’t get much cozier than these Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins! My kids loved them so much the first time I made them, and we now make them all the time.
These soft, spiced pumpkin muffins are filled with a cinnamon-swirled cream cheese center and topped with a sweet, spiced sugar topping. They’re perfectly moist, not overly sweet, and make a delicious breakfast treat, snack, or dessert.
You may also love my baked pumpkin donuts or my pumpkin brownies.
Recipe Overview
Tips Before You Get Started
- Don’t overmix the batter. You just need to stir until just combined for soft muffins.
- Use room-temperature cream cheese so it blends smoothly. So you can take this out of the fridge ahead of time.
- Fill muffin liners almost to the top for bakery-style muffins.
- Let the muffins cool fully before removing them from the pan to avoid breaking.
Ingredients needed and notes
Below is a list of the ingredients I used to make these pumpkin muffins with cream cheese. Full measurements are listed further down in the recipe card.
- Pumpkin puree: Gives moisture and flavor. Be sure to grab 100% pumpkin puree and not the pumpkin pie mix.
- Pumpkin spice mix: You can always make it if you don’t have any. The classic blend is made of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and ground cloves.
- All-purpose flour, baking powder, and baking soda: Used for structure and rise. You can use any other flour of your choice, like oat flour or whole wheat flour.
- Eggs & vanilla extract: for richness and flavor.
- Maple syrup & brown sugar: What I used to add sweetness. You can use any other sugar and replace the maple syrup with honey or agave.
- Coconut oil: keeps the muffins moist. You can swap it with another oil or melted butter.
- Cream cheese: for that creamy, tangy filling. Lite cream cheese will work fine, too.
- Cinnamon & ginger: mixed with brown sugar for a sweet, spiced topping.
How to make pumpkin cream cheese muffins
Here is the step-by-step process of how I made these muffins, which you can also find in the recipe card.
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners or spray a non-stick pan with cooking oil spray like Pam.
1️⃣ Make the muffin batter
In a bowl, using an electric mixer, whisk the wet ingredients (maple syrup, oil, vanilla, eggs, pumpkin puree, and spices) until smooth. To the wet batter, add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Using a spatula, mix until just combined.
✏️ You do not need to overmix the batter here.
2️⃣ Mix the cream cheese filling
In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon powder, and ginger
powder. Add half of the cinnamon sugar to your soft cream cheese and stir well to
combine. Reserve the remaining cinnamon mixture to use on top.
✏️ The cream cheese will mix smoothly if you allow it to soften and reach room temperature.
3️⃣ Assemble the muffins
Divide muffin batter into the 12 prepared liners. Add a spoonful of the cream cheese cinnamon mixture into the center of each muffin, pressing lightly. Sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon-sugar.
✏️ For large bakery-style muffins, fill the liners to the top.
4️⃣ Bake and cool
Bake 20–22 minutes until muffins are set on the edges (the center will look soft due to the cream cheese). Remove and set it aside to start cooling. While warm, sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar. Cool before serving.
✏️ You need to allow the muffins to cool for 10-15 minutes before removing them from the pan.
Common Questions
Yes, you can use fresh pumpkin puree. I would just make sure it’s well-puréed and not too watery.
Yes, you can make these muffins gluten-free by swapping the all-purpose flour for a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend.
Yes, I do recommend not leaving these muffins put for more than 2 hours. Because of the cream cheese filling. I recommend storing leftovers in the fridge.
You can absolutely make these muffins vegan by using plant-based cream cheese and using egg substitutes as the binding agent. You can replace the 2 eggs with 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed mixed with 1/4 cup of water.
How to Store these muffins
- Counter: You can leave these covered on your kitchen counter for just a few hours, like 2-3 hours. I wouldn’t recommend more because of the cream cheese.
- Fridge: For leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4–5 days.
- Freezer: Wrap the muffins individually and freeze them for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before enjoying.
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 15 ounces pumpkin puree, one can
- 1 1/2 tablespoons pumpkin spice mix
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon powder
- 2 teaspoons ginger powder
- 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F and line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, use an electric whisk and mix the 1/2 cup maple syrup, 1/2 cup coconut oil, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 2 large eggs, 15 ounces pumpkin puree, and 1 1/2 tablespoons pumpkin spice mix until smooth.
- In a second bowl, combine the 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda.
- Use a spatula and incorporate the flour mixture into the wet mixture until mostly smooth. Transfer and divide the mixture among your muffin cups.
- In a small bowl, combine the 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon cinnamon powder, and 2 teaspoons ginger powder.
- Add half of the cinnamon sugar to your soft 8 ounces cream cheese and stir well to combine. Reserve the remaining cinnamon mixture to use on top.
- Next, nestle a large teaspoon of cream cheese into the center of each muffin cup, lightly pushing into the batter. Sprinkle it with the remaining cinnamon sugar.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes, until the tops are just set. They might look a bit undone in the center because of the cream cheese insert, but they're fully baked
- Remove the muffin tin from the oven, and while the cupcakes are still warm, sprinkle the tops with the remaining cinnamon sugar.
Notes
- Use any flour of your choice, like gluten-free, whole wheat, or oat flour.
- Don’t overmix the batter. You just need to stir until just combined for soft muffins.
- Let the muffins cool fully before handling
- Fill muffin liners almost to the top for bakery-style muffins.
- Use room-temperature cream cheese so it blends smoothly. So you can take this out of the fridge ahead of time.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More muffin recipes
- Raspberry Muffins
- Pumpkin Banana Muffins
- Oatmeal Protein Muffins
- Cinnamon Muffins
- Sweet Potato Muffins
- Healthy Strawberry Muffins
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