Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Moist pumpkin muffins with a sweet cream cheese filling and a crunchy cinnamon streusel topping.
Ingredients
For the Cream Cheese Filling
- 4 ounces block-style cream cheese softened, 113g
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar 60g
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Streusel Topping
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar 55g
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 30g
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces, 28g
For the Pumpkin Muffins
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 180g
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree 220g
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar 100g
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar 110g
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil 80ml
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Prepare a 12-cup muffin pan by greasing it with cooking spray or lining it with paper liners.
- Make the filling: In a small bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix with a fork or hand mixer until smooth. Set aside.
- Make the streusel: In another small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Add the cold butter pieces and use a fork or your fingertips to cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse, sandy crumbs. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon.
- In a large bowl, whisk the pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil, and eggs until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir with a spatula until just combined. Be careful not to overmix; a few lumps are okay.
- Divide half of the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese filling into the center of the batter in each cup.
- Top with the remaining batter, making sure to cover the cream cheese filling completely. Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over each muffin.
- Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the muffin part (avoiding the cream cheese center) comes out clean. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
For food safety, dishes containing eggs should be cooked thoroughly. Ensure no wet batter remains by testing with a skewer; it should come out clean from the cake portion of the muffin.
Make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature. This helps it mix into a smooth, lump-free filling.
Use 100% pure pumpkin puree for this recipe, not pumpkin pie filling, which has added sugar and spices.
To avoid tough muffins, mix the batter until the ingredients are just combined. Overmixing develops gluten and can make the texture dense.